Horticulture crops output to stay flat at 355 MT in 2023-24

India's horticulture crops production is estimated to remain flat at 355.25 million tonne in 2023-24, despite a fall in onion output by 4.7 million tonne.

Releasing the first advance estimates for 2023-24, the agriculture ministry said that the horticulture production in the country is estimated to be about 355.25 million tonne as against 355.48 million tonne in the previous year.

Area under horticulture crops has seen a marginal rise to 28.77 million hectare in 2023-24 from 28.44 million hectare in the previous year, according to the government data.

As per the data, the production of fruits is expected to reach 112.08 million tonne (MT) in 2023-24 from 110.21 million tonne in 2022-23. The increase is mainly due to increases in the output of banana, mandarin, and mango.

Production of vegetables is estimated to fall at 209.39 million tonne from 212.55 million tonne in 2022-23 (Final Estimates). An increase is expected in the production of cabbage, cauliflower, pumpkin, tapioca, tomato, and other vegetables.

Tomato output is expected to rise at 208.19 lakh tonne compared to 204.25 lakh tonne last year. "Production of onion in 2023-24 is expected to be around 254.73 lakh tonne compared to around 302.08 lakh tonne last year due to a decrease of 34.31 lakh tonne in Maharashtra, 9.95 lakh tonne in Karnataka, 3.54 lakh tonne in Andhra Pradesh and 3.12 lakh tonne in Rajasthan," an official statement said.

The decline in onion production in 2023-24 is 16 per cent compared to the previous year. As per the data, onion production stood at 316.87 lakh tonne in 2021-22. The Centre has already banned exports of onions to control prices in the domestic market.

Potato production in 2023-24 is expected to be around 589.94 lakh tonne compared to around 601.42 lakh tonne in the previous year. This is attributed to a decrease in West Bengal over the previous year.

The department of agriculture has released the final estimates of 2022-23 and the first advance estimates of 2023-24 of the area and production of various horticultural crops compiled on the basis of information received from states/UTs and other governmental source agencies.