Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad-580 005, Karnataka.
Horticultural industry is a fast emerging sector which can contribute substantially for the growth of agribusiness in the country. Karnataka is one of the important states in horticulture sector in India as it occupies the third place in area and production of fruit crops. This paper has studied the prospects for fruit industry in Karnataka through value-addition in grapes using the CGR growth model to compute growth in their area, production and productivity. Grapes have shown a significantly high growth in acreage, both before and after the economic liberalization. However, growth in production has been found moderate because of a significant decline in yields. It has concluded that since processing of raw grapes into raisins results in value-addition, it should be promoted among the growers. This value-addition has tremendous potential of providing economic gains to the welfare of the farmers and farm economy of the region. The study has suggested that since production of grapes is expected to increase in the near future, the rise in the quantum of their processing needs the attention of policymakers and horticulturists.
