India's diverse climate ensures the availability of all varieties of fresh fruits & vegetables. It ranks second in fruits and vegetable production in the world, after China. As per National Horticulture Database (2nd Advance Estimates) published by National Horticulture Board, during 2023-24, India produced 112.62 million metric tonnes of fruits and 204.96 million metric tonnes of vegetables. The area under cultivation of fruits stood at 7.04 million hectares while vegetables were cultivated at 11.11 million hectares.
According to FAO (2022), India is the largest producer of Onions, ginger and okra among vegetables and ranks second in the production of Potatoes, Cauliflowers, Brinjal, Cabbages, etc. Amongst fruits, the country ranks first in the production of Bananas (25.56%), Mangoes (including mangosteens and guavas) (44.46%) and Papayas (38.64%).
The vast production base offers India tremendous opportunities for export. During 2023-24, India exported fresh fruits and vegetables worth Rs. 15039.27 crores/ 1814.58 USD Millions which comprised Fresh Fruits worth Rs. 8178.22crores/ 986.32USD Millions and vegetables worth Rs. 6,861.05crores/ 828.26USD Millions.
The processed fruits and vegetables including of pulses exported to be Rs. 20,623.70 Crore/ USD 2,488.72million which comprised of processed vegetables including of pulses Rs. 14,339.94Crore/ USD 1,730.79million and processed fruits and juices Rs. 6,283.76crores/ USD 757.93million in 2023-24.
Grapes, Pomegranates, Mangoes, Bananas, and Oranges account for the larger portion of fruits exported from the country while Onions, Mixed Vegetables, Potatoes, Tomatoes, and Green Chilly Contribute largelyto thevegetable export basket.
Major destinations for the Indian Fresh Fruits and Vegetables areBangladesh, UAE, Netherland, Nepal,Malaysia, Iraq, U.K, Sri Lanka, Iran, Oman and Saudi Arabia.
Major destinations for the Indian Processed Fruits and Vegetables are U.S.A, UAE, Bangladesh, U.K, Saudi Arab, China and Netherland.
Though India's share in the global market is nearly 1% only, there is increasing acceptance of horticulture produce from the country. This has occurred due to concurrent developments in the areas i.e. state-of-the-art in cold chain infrastructure and quality assurance measures. Apart from large investments pumped in by the private sector, the public sector has also taken the initiative with APEDA for setting up several Centers for Perishable Cargoes and integrated post-harvest handling facilities in the country. Capacity-building initiatives at the farmers, processors and exporters levels have also contributed towards this effort.
