FACULTY OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES & ALLIED INDUSTRIES

Importance and scope of Horticulture

 As per Indian Horticulture Database (2005), fruit crops cover an area of 4.96 m ha. and
vegetables crops 6.75 m.ha.. Accordingly, 49.29 m.ton of fruits and 101.43 m ton of
vegetables are produced in the country annually. To meet out the projected demand of
population by 2020 A.D, about 50 m.ton of fruits and 143 m. ton of vegetables would be
required. Therefore by 2020 A.D. the production of fruits needs to be increased.
Requirements of export and processing industry further add to the requirements of
horticultural produce. In view of these, there is lot of scope of increasing production and
potentiality of horticulture crops.
 Apart from fruits and vegetables, floriculture industry in India comprising of florist trade,
nursery plants, potted plants, seed and bulb products is being observed as sunrise
industry. There is soaring business of flowers in almost all metropolitan cities of the
different states. The developed flower market in the country during 2005 is with area of
2.24 lakh ha with a production of 6.54 lakh MT loose flowers and 19515 lakh cut
flowers. The traditional flowers are grown on a large hectare of land on a commercial
scale. These flowers are mostly grown for loose flower purpose. Area under cut flowers
like rose, chrysanthemum, gladiolus, carnation and orchids is increasing day by day.
 Plantation crops are another potential sector with lot of opportunities of employment
generation, foreign exchange earnings and overall supporting livelihood sustenance of
mankind at large. These crops form the mainstay of lives especially in coastal areas of the
country where predominating stands of plantation crops are found. Coconut has so much
importance in the country that the state Kerala receives its very name on the basis of
coconut, the Malayalam name of which is Kera.. These cover an area of 31.02 lakh ha
with a production of 131.60 lakh MT.
Horticulture is important for the following considerations
1. As a source of variability in produce.
2. As a source of nutrients, vitamins, minerals, flavour, aroma, alkaloids, oleoresins, fibre,
etc.
3. As a source of medicine.
4. As an economic proposition as they give higher returns per unit area in terms of energy,
money, job, etc.
5. Employment generation 860 man days/annum for fruit crops as against 143 man
days/annum for cereal crops and the crops like grapes, banana and pineapple need 1000-
2500 man days per annum.
6. Effective utilization of waste land through hardy fruits and medicinal plants.
7. As a substitute of family income being component of home garden.
8. As a foreign exchange earner has higher share compare to agriculture crops.
9. As an input for industry being amenable to processing, especially fruit and vegetable
preservation industry.
10. Aesthetic consideration and protection of environment.
 11. Religious significance.
 In short horticulture supplies quality food for health and mind, more calories per unit area,
develops better resources and yields higher returns per unit area.
 It also enhances land value and creates better purchasing power for those who are engaged in this
industry.
 Therefore, horticulture is important for health, wealth, hygiene and happiness.
Scope of Horticulture
Like any other things, scope of horticulture depends on incentive it has for the farmers,
adaptability of the crops, necessity and facilities for future growth through inputs availability and
infrastructure for the distribution of produce/marketing etc.
Incentive for the farmer
 The biggest incentive for the farmer is money and horticultural crops provide more
returns in terms of per unit area production, export value, value addition compared to
agricultural crops.
Adaptability
India is bestowed with a great variety of climatic and edaphic conditions as we have climates
varying from tropical, subtropical, temperate and within these humid, semi-arid, arid, frost free
temperate etc.
 Likewise we have soils like loam, alluvial, laterite, medium black rocky shallow, heavy
black, sandy etc. and thus a large number of crops can be accommodated with very high
level of adaptability. Thus, there is good scope for horticultural crops.
Necessity

 After having achieved self sufficiency in food, nutritional security for the people of the
country has become the point of consideration/priority.
 Moreover, Indians are basically vegetarians, and to meet their nutritional requirement in
terms of vitamins and minerals horticulture crops are to be grown in sufficient quantities
to provide a bare minimum of 85 g of fruits and 200 g of vegetables per head per day
with a population of above 120 crores.
 Continued increase in demand for horticultural produce provides tremendous scope for
the growth of this industry.
 Good land is under pressure for stable food, industry, housing, roads and infrastructure
due to population explosion and only wasteland had to be efficiently utilized
where cultivation of annuals is a gamble due to restricted root zone and their
susceptibility of abiotic stress.
 These lands can be best utilized to cultivate hardy horticultural crops like fruits and
medicinal plants.
 At present our share in international trade of horticultural commodities is less than one
per cent of total trade. Moreover, these commodities (spices, coffee, tea) fetch 10-20
times more foreign exchange per unit weight than cereals and therefore, taking advantage
 of globalization of trade, nearness of big market and the size of production, our country
should greatly involve in international trade which would provide scope for growth.
Export value
Among fresh fruits, mangoes and grapes; in vegetables, onion and potato; among flowers, roses;
among plantataion and spice crops, black pepper,cardamom, ginger, turmeric,chillies, cashewnut,
tea , coffee, coconut, arecanut, etc constitute the bulk of the export basket.
 European and gulf countries are major importer of horticultural produce.
Table: Major countries for export of horticultural produce
ommodity Major importer Share value(%)

Fruits and vegetables United Arab Emirates 28.00

Floriculture U.S.A 37.70

Processed products Soviet Union countries 14.60

Spices U.S.A 43.50

Cashew U.S.A 40.00

Reason for scope of Horticulture
In brief it can be stated that horticulture has great scope for the following reasons

 To exploit great variability of agro climatic conditions.

 To meet the need for fruits, vegetables, flowers, spices, beverages in relation to
population growth based on minimum nutritional and other needs.
 To meet the requirement of processing industry.
 To substitute import and increase export.
 To improve the economic conditions of the farmers and to engage more labourers to avert
the problem of unemployment.
 To protect environment.
Other importance

 Horticultural trees work in near semblance to forest trees in maintaining ecosphere

 They helps in transforming micro climate
 Provides shelter to birds, reptiles and other micro organisms and add to the geo-
ecological diversity on the land
 Provides impetus to the writers, poets, thinkers and analysts and thus keeps their cultural
impulse alive
 Adds to the survival of life-spheres of living entity
Horticultural Crops and Human Nutrition
 Fruits and vegetables play an important role in balanced diet.
  These provide not only energy rich food but also provide vital protective
nutrients/elements and vitamins.
 Comparatively fruits and vegetables are the cheapest source of natural nutritive foods.
 Since most of Indians are vegetarians, the incorporation of horticulture produce in daily
diet is essential for good health.
 With the growing awareness and inclination towards vegetarianism worldwide the
horticulture crops are gaining tremendous importance.
Functions of Fruits and Vegetables
Functions of fruits and vegetables in human body
 Fruits and vegetables provide palatability, taste, improves appetite and provides fibre
thereby the constipation can be overcome.
 They neutralize the acids produced during digestion of proteins and fatty acids.
 They improve the general immunity of human body against diseases, deficiencies etc.
 They are the important source of vitamins and minerals for used in several bio-chemical
reactions occur in body
Fruits
Fruits provide higher energy value per unit area compared to cereals. Some of the essential
vitamins provided by different fruits are:
Vitamines Role on Human Body Source

Essentil for growth and

reproduction
Helps in resistance to
Mango, Papaya,
infections, increases longevity and
persimon, Dates, Jack
Vitamin A decreases senilty.
fruit, Walnut, Oranges,
Deficiency causes night
Passion fruit, Loquat etc
blindness, xeropthalmia, retardation in
growth, roughness in skin, formation
of stones in kidney.

Essential for the maintainance

of good appetite and normal digestion.
Necessary for growth, fertility,
Walnut, Apricot,
lactatio and for normal fucioning of
Apple, Banana,
Vitamin B1 nervous system.
Grapefruit, Plum &
Deficiency causes beri-
Almond.
beri,paralysis, loss the sensititivity of
skin, enlargement of heart, loss of
appetite and fall in body temperature.
 Important for growth, health of
skin and for respiration in poorly
vascularised tissue such as the cornea. Bael, Papaya, Litchi,
Vitamin B2 Deficiency causes pellagra and Pomegranate, Wood
alopecia, loss of appetite, loss of Apple and Pineapple
weight, sore throat, development of
catract, swollen nose and baldness.

Dficiency causes scurvy, pain Barbados cherry, Aonla,

in joints, swelling of limbs, unhealthy Gauva, Lime, Lemon,
Vitamin C
gums, tooth decay, delay in healing of Sweet oranges, Ber,
wounds and rheumatism. Pineapple & Pear.
Area production and export in Horticulture
 India is leading producer of horticultural crops. Horticultural crops cover 13.08 per cent
of the total area under agriculture, but contribute to about 28 per cent of the GDP. These
crops accounts for 37 per cent of the total exports of agricultural commodities. Due to
planned emphasis laid on Horticulture, India is accredited as the second largest producer
of fruits and vegetables, largest producer and consumer of cashew nut, tea and spices,
third largest producer of coconut, fourth largest producer and consumer of rubber and
sixth largest producer of coffee in the world.
 India exports fruits, vegetables, processed products, flowers, seeds and planting
materials, spices, cashew nut, tea, coffee etc. During 2005-06, the value of export
material was worth Rs.1,24,175 million. During the year, export of cashew nut was
dominantly higher followed by spices, tea and coffee.
Fruits
 India is the largest producer of mango, banana, grape and litchi. However, the bulk of the
production is consumed domestically.
 Of the total global exports for fruits, India ‘s share is only 0.3%. Fruits accounts for about
11% of total horticultural export from country.
 Grape and mango together constitute 60% of India’s exports of fresh fruits.
Citrus, banana, apple and papaya are other important fruits for export.
Vegetables

 During the year 2005-06, the export of fresh vegetables was of the order of Rs 919.8
crore. Onion accounts for maximum share in exports trade. Other major vegetables are
tomato, potato, bean, pea, mushroom, asparagus, capsicum and okra.
Floriculture

 In floriculture, cut flowers alone account of 86% of the total trade in this sector. Dried
flowers and other plant parts are other prominent commodities.
  Processed products: Of the total horticultural trade, processed fruits and vegetables
account for 20% and 17% respectively. Among the processed fruits, fruits juice and dried
fruits contribute to 41% and 12% of trade respectively. Mango pulp, pickles and chutneys
of various fruits remain in high demand in export trade. Among processed vegetables,
mushrooms, gherkins, dehydrated onion and frozen pre-cut vegetables are important
items.
Spices
 World trade in spices has been estimated of the magnitude of 7.5 lakh metric tonnes
valued at Rs 1650 million US$.
 Indian spices command 43% share in volume and 31% in value of the world trade(2005-
06).
 These commodities account for more than 5% of the total agricultural export earnings in
the country.
 Value added spices are in large demand in export trade and their share is 60% of total
export under spices.
Seeds and planting materials
 The country exports seed and planting materials of fruits and vegetables. The export of
these commodities was of the order of Rs.63 crores during the year 2004-05
 Medicinal and aromatic plants: The country has its credits of exporting herbal material
raw drugs to world market.
 Before 2005, Indian export of herbal material was worth Rs. 446 crore.
 China export in this regard has been worked out of the tune of Rs. 18000-22000 crore.
 Aloe, belladonna, acrus, cinchona, cassia tora, dioscorea, senna, isbgol,etc.hold
prominence in export trade under the sector.
Cashew nut
 During the year 2004-05, cashew nut kernels worth Rs.2709 crore were exported.
 At present, the country exports about 1.27 lakh metric tonnes of cashew kernels worth
Rs. 2500 crore.
Tea
 Until 1987-88, India was dominant exporter of tea in the world market.
 The share of tea in total agricultural export was 20.7%.
 In view of stiff competition from Sri Lanka,Kenya, China tea export from the country has
been divided down.
 At present share of tea in total agricultural export has been merely 5%.
Coffee
 After petroleum, coffee is the second largest commodity in the world trade. From India,
70% of the total production of coffee is exported.
Coconut
 The recent trends in the exports of coconut products witness decrease in export of copra
and copra meal.
  There has been moderate increase in coconut oil, desiccated coconut and shell charcoal
while significant increase in coco chemicals, activated carbon, coir and coir products.
 Coir and coir products are major coconut based commodities in the export basket.
Rubber
 The country exports natural rubber. Under this sector, it accounts for 1.1% of the global
share.
 The export of natural rubber rose from 6995 metric tonnes in 2001-02 to 75,905 metric
tonnes during 2003-04.
Cocoa
 India exports cocoa products.During the year 2005-06, India earned foreign exchange
worth Rs. 24.80 crore out of export of cocoa beans/products.
Imports
 There is rise in the imports of certain commodities.
 Commodities like dried pea, apples, apple juice, dried vegetable, black pepper, raw
cashew nut, areca nut, cocoa etc.are important items imports by India.
 In spice sector, India is leading producer but bulk of its production is utilized
domestically itself.
 In cashew nut production scenario, the country produces5.4 lakh tonnes of raw cashew
nuts, as against the requirement of 11-12 lakh tonnes per annum to feed out 1700 cashew
processing units.