- Production of fruits and vegetables (F&V) in 2016-17 outstripped that of cereals for the fifth year in a row.
- Horticultural output of 295 million tonnes was higher than that of 273 million tonnes of grain.
- The area under F&V is just a fifth of the area under grain.
- The government has had a small role to play; it is a private sector success story.
- Horticulture does not get priority in government outlays: its share has varied between 3.9 and 4.6 percent of the sector outlay since the 9th Five Year Plan.
- Price slumps in onions, tomatoes and potatoes have prevented farmers from even recovering production costs.
- The government steps in through market intervention operations but these are not friction-less.
- F&V are mainly produced by small and marginal farmers.
- F&V accounts for a third of agri-GDP.
- It is necessary for diversification out of agriculture.
- The top 10 F&V states were slow to adopt the Green Revolution.
- People are consuming more of F&V. It is the sector to be in.
(Top photo of kinoos in Abohar, Punjab, by Vivian Fernandes)