Fruits 

            The major fruits grown in India are mango, banana, citrus, pineapple, papaya, guava, sapota, jackfruit, litchi and grape in the tropical and sub-tropical regions ; apple, pear, peach, plum, apricot, almond and walnut in the temperate zones; aonla, ber, pomegranate, annona, fig, phalsa in the arid regions of the country. India accounts for about 10 per cent of the production of fruits in the world with an annual production of 45.37 million tonnes during 2000-01 from an area of 3.89 million hectares.  There has been a marginal reduction in the production of fruits during 2000-01 when compared to 1999-2000, which has been mainly due to some reduction in the production of banana in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka and Gujarat, mango in Bihar and apple in Jammu and Kashmir.

Vegetables 

          Vegetables including root and tuber crops occupy an important place in diversification of agriculture and have played pivotal role in food and nutritional security of ever growing population of our country. In India, about 40 kinds of vegetables belonging to different groups are being cultivated. These include solanaceous, cucurbitaceous, leguminous, cruciferous (cole crops), root crops and leafy vegetables. Major vegetable crops grown in the country are tomato, onion, brinjal, cabbage, cauliflower, okra and peas. Significant achievements have been obtained in terms of production, which has increased to 93.9 million tonnes during 2000-01 from 58.5 million tonnes during 1991-92. India is next only to China in the production of vegetables. India contributes about 13.7 per cent to the world vegetable production and occupies first position in the production of cauliflower, second in onion and third in cabbage in the world.  The production of vegetables increased by 3.4% during the past one year.  

Spices 

Coconut 

            Coconut is a versatile crop and about 10 million people depend on its cultivation, processing and related activities.  It is grown mainly along the coastal states of the country and also in the North-Eastern region. Coconut is grown over an area of 1.84 million ha with a production of 8.67 million tonnes.  There has been a marginal increase of production in coconut by 3% during the year.  India ranks third in total production of coconuts among 90 coconut producing countries in the world.

Association of Growers, Partnership/Proprietary Firms, Companies, Corporations, Cooperatives, Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees, Marketing Boards/Committees and Agro Industry Corporations. 

          Under this scheme, so far 596 projects have been sanctioned creating a cold storage capacity of 26.91 lakh MT with NHB subsidy of Rs. 1919700 thousand. This has attracted a private investment of Rs. 7967800 thousand. 

(ii)        Development of Commercial Horticulture through Production and Post Harvest Management 

            The back ended capital susbsidy @ 20 per cent of the total project cost to a maximum of Rs. 2500 thousand. However, for the North Eastern Tribal/Hilly Areas, maximum limit of subsidy would be Rs. 3000 thousand per project. Under this scheme, so far 504 projects have been sanctioned with NHB subsidy of Rs. 417100 thousand. 

          The Coconut Development Board implements programmes for the Integrated Development of Coconut Industry and Technology Mission on Coconut at a total outlay of Rs. 400000 thousand during 2002-03. To achieve the objectives of integrated development of the crop, product diversification and by-product utilization, the major thrust areas identified are production and distribution of quality planting material, expansion of area under coconut especially in potential and non-traditional areas, improving productivity of coconut in major coconut producing states, developing of technology in post harvest processing, marketing activities and the integrated control of major pests and diseases. Under the scheme “Establishment of Regional Coconut Nurseries”, it is targeted to produce 2.2 lakh TxD hybrid seedlings and 4 lakhs good quality seedlings and an area of 2000 ha. would be covered under fresh planting under Area Expansion of Coconut by providing an assistance of Rs. 8,000/- per ha. Under the Productivity Improvement Programme, it is proposed to remove one lakh disease affected palms and to establish 400 ha. demonstration blocks and 200 organic manure units. India is now the premier coconut producing country in the world with a total production of 8.7 million tonnes from an area of 1.84 million ha.  In productivity too, India stands in the forefront among the other coconut growing countries. 

Technology Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture in North Eastern Region including Sikkim (TMNE) 

A Centrally Sponsored Scheme on Technology Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture in North Eastern region including Sikkim was approved with an outlay of Rs. 2293800 thousand for Ninth Five Year Plan period.  The scheme aims at establishing convergence and synergy among numerous ongoing governmental programmes through  horizontal  and vertical integration of these programmes which will ensure adequate, appropriate, timely and concurrent attention to all the links in the production, post harvest and consumption chain.  The Small Farmer’s Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) is involved in coordinating the scheme. 

            The Technology Mission is being implemented through four Mini Missions: Mini Mission-I involving research is coordinated and implemented by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).  Mini Mission-II covering production and productivity improvement activities is coordinated by the Department of Agriculture & Cooperation and implemented by the Agriculture/Horticulture Departments of the States. Mini Mission-III involving post harvest management, marketing and export is coordinated by National Horticulture Board and Mini Mission-IV involving processing is coordinated and implemented by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries. State level SFACs have also been constituted in most of the implementing States for monitoring and implementing the programme at the grass root level. The implementation of this scheme started from 2001-02.  During the year 2002-03, the scheme is being continued with an allocation of Rs.1200000 thousand.  The details are given in Annexure-I.  Under the Technology Mission, funds to the states are made available on the basis yearly action plans/proposals, which are approved by the State Level Steering Committee under the Chief Secretary of the concerned state.   

The physical achievements during 2001-02 have been satisfactory.  The States of Sikkim, Nagaland, Mizoram have shown good performance. The performance of Tripura, Assam and Meghalaya is satisfactory. Arunachal Pradesh initially was showing very good performance, but the pace has slowed down which needs to be addressed by the State. Manipur has picked up and after persuasions has submitted the action plan for 2002-03 which has been finalized and funds released.

Major physical achievements for North Eastern Region during 2001-02 are:

i) Area expansion – 11592 ha.; ii) Community tanks – 178 nos.; iii) Tube wells  - 102 nos.; iv) Green Houses – 262 nos.; v) Big nurseries – 19 nos.; vi) Small nurseries – 35 nos.; vii) Training of farmers – 7417 nos.; viii)Training of farmers outside the state – 940 nos.; ix) Organic farming – 606 units.; x) Earthworm units – 55 units.; xi) Integrated pest management – 1931 ha.; xii) Wholesale markets – 11 nos. under progress; xiii) Rural primary markets – 56 nos. under progress.; xvi) Grading laboratories – 13 nos. under progress; xv) New processing units – 6 nos. under progress; xvi) Upgradation of existing units – 2 nos. under progress. 

Integrated Programme for Development of Horticulture in Tibal/Hilly Areas 

          Horticulture has been the mainstay in hilly and tribal areas. Under the programme of horticulture development, major benefits have accrued in traditional area having better potential with infrastructural facilities and adequate economic resources with farmers to exploit opportunities of new technologies. Very little benefits have reached the tribal and hill farmers.  Therefore, a Central Sector Scheme “Integrated Programme for Development of Horticulture in Hilly and Tribal Area” was launched during 1999-2000. 

The scheme was implemented during 2001-02 in five tribal and one hilly district on pilot basis through the identified state designated agencies, which included cooperative societies, autonomous organizations, NGO, etc. to whom funds were released directly.   The scheme was successfully implemented and has created necessary awareness among tribals and backward people in hilly areas about the importance of horticulture for increasing their income from small holdings and creating additional employment opportunities.  Under this scheme, infrastructural facilities have also been created to develop growth centers for development in the district. 

Human Resource Development in Horticulture 

          A Central Sector Scheme entitled “Human Resource Development in Horticulture” was launched during the Ninth Five Year Plan with effect from 1999-2000 with an outlay of Rs 50000 thousand.  The objective of this scheme is to promote rapid growth of horticulture by reducing the gap in knowledge and skill, both managerial and technical by training people to become entrepreneurs or self-employed in the horticulture sector and to upgrade the knowledge of departmental staff. The scheme has four components, (a) training of supervisors, (b) training of gardeners, (c) training of entrepreneurs, and (d) training of departmental staff.  The training programme for the supervisors/entrepreneurs is being organized through five State Agricultural Universities ( SAUs), one ICAR Institute and one Krishi Vigyan Kentras (KVK) whereas the entrepreneur’s training programme is being organized through two SAUs an done ICAR Institute who are involve din organizing training programme for the supervisors.  The gardeners’ training is being organized through three SAUs, two KVKs and one NGO. Two new institutes, one each for supervisors and gardeners training, were included during the year 2001-02. The departmental staff is trained under various on-going training programmes organized by ICAR institutes and SAUs.  An amount of Rs. 13,460 thousand were released to 11 training institutes during 1999-2000 and 2000-01 and Rs. 300 thousand were released to the State Governments during 2000-01. In pursuance to the decision of the Planning Commission, it has been decided to phase out the scheme during the Tenth Plan.  A token outlay of Rs. 10000 thousand has been provided for the scheme during 2002-03.

Programmes of North Eastern States