Growth and Instability of Horticultural Crops in India

The study has examined the growth and instability in area, production and productivity of major horticultural crops, and has estimated the contribution of area and productivity to the production growth. The study has revealed that growth in production has been mainly due to the growth in productivity area rather than production, especially in flower production and this means more stress on land in the coming years. The instability analysis has revealed high risk in flower production than in fruit and vegetable production. The contribution of area in productivity has been high in all the three crops, the highest being in flower production. The results have shown that available technologies are not adequate to push up the yield of these crops. Therefore, development and dissemination of technologies to increase yield of these crops is a big challenge for researchers and extension agencies. The study has suggested government intervention in making availability of stable markets for flowers to minimize risk in their production.