Growth of horticulture sector in Andhra Pradesh: An aggregate and district level analysis

Andhra Pradesh is the second largest producer of horticulture crops. The state is giving special thrust to the sector under various schemes. In the present study, an analysis of the growth in area, productivity and production has been done for the state as well as at the district level for the period 1998–99 to 2005–06. Compound annual growth rates have been estimated for different sub-sectors like fruits, vegetables, spices, flowers and nuts and palms. The study has revealed that nuts and palms which had the largest area-share in the horticulture sector in the TE 2001, have paved way to the fruits by 2005–06. There has been a significant growth in the area of orange and mango in the state without gains in productivity, mainly due to growth in their consumption within the state. Relatively backward districts like Anantapur, Mahabubnagar and Adilabad have shown an impressive growth in fruit crops. Among vegetables, though there has been a marginal decline in the area of tomato, the yield gains have pushed the production, more so in the districts like Ranga Reddy and Mahabubnagar. The growth rates of area and production of spices in almost all the districts have been found negative. In the case of flowers, a very high growth rate in area has been observed in the districts like Guntur, Chittoor and Anantapur, and a significant productivity growth is visible in Chittoor, East Godavari, Visakhapatnam and Kadapa districts. There has been a moderate growth in the traditional districts of Godavari in respect of coconut, while in all other districts, there has been a decline. Oil palm has gained significantly being a new and promising crop. While proximity to the regulated markets and cities coupled with promotional schemes seems to have encouraged growth, much more needs to be done to build upon these achievements with more infrastructure development and encouragement to resource-poor farmers in the sector.