Status and Growth Performance of Horticultural Crops in Relation to Area and Productivity: A Retrospective Study

Abstract

Horticultural crops - fruits, vegetables, spices, flowers and plantation crops - have emerged as an increasingly important component of Indian agriculture, offering higher per-hectare returns than most staple cereals and playing a growing role in farm income diversification, nutritional security and export earnings. This retrospective study employs a secondary data approach to examine the status and long-term growth performance of India's horticulture sector in terms of area, production and productivity from 1991-92 to 2024-25, drawing on official National Horticulture Board (NHB) and Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare statistics alongside peer-reviewed secondary-data studies. Results show that total horticultural production in India increased more than three-fold, from 96.6 million tonnes in 1991-92 to an estimated 367.72 million tonnes in 2024-25 (second advance estimate), while the area under horticultural crops more than doubled, from 12.8 million hectares to 30.14 million hectares over the same period. Productivity rose from 7.5 tonnes per hectare in 1991-92 to approximately 12.1-12.5 tonnes per hectare in recent years, indicating that both area expansion and yield improvement have jointly driven production growth, in contrast with the yield-dominated growth pattern observed in foodgrain crops over a comparable period. Disaggregated analysis shows fruit production rising from 86.6 million tonnes in 2014-15 to 112.97 million tonnes in 2023-24 (a 30% increase, with productivity rising from 14.17 to 15.80 tonnes per hectare), while vegetable production grew from 169.47 to 207.2 million tonnes (a 22% increase, with productivity rising from 17.76 to 18.40 tonnes per hectare) over the same period; independent time-series analysis spanning 1991-92 to 2023-24 reports even larger cumulative growth of 291.43% in fruit and 257.7% in vegetable production. Vegetables consistently account for the largest share of total horticultural output, with potato, tomato and onion together comprising roughly half of vegetable production, while banana and mango together account for more than half of fruit production. The study concludes that horticulture has outperformed foodgrain crops in relative growth terms over the retrospective period, driven by a combination of policy support through dedicated missions, area diversification, and productivity-enhancing technology adoption, while noting continued scope for closing regional and crop-specific productivity gaps.