Current Status of Fruits

India is the second largest producer of Fruits after China, with a production of 44.04 million tonnes of fruits from an area of 3.72 million hectares (Fig-3). A large variety of fruits  are grown  in  India, of which mango, banana, citrus,  guava,  grape, pineapple and apple are the major ones.  Apart from these, fruits like  papaya, sapota, annona, phalsa, jackfruit, ber, pomegranate in tropical   and  sub-tropical  group and  peach,  pear,  almond, walnut,  apricot  and strawberry in the temperate group are  also grown in a sizeable area. Although fruit is grown throughout of the country, the major fruit growing states are Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat .  

Mango  is  the most important fruit covering about 35  per cent of area and accounting of 22 per cent total production of total  fruits in the country, which is highest in the world  with India's share  of  about 54%.  India has the richest collection of mango cultivars.  Major mango growing States are Uttar  Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka,  Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The main varieties of mango grown in the country are Alphanso, Dashehari, Langra, Fajli, Chausa, Totapuri, Neelum etc. Banana comes next in rank occupying about 13 per cent of the total area and accounting for about  34.2 per cent of the total production of fruits.   India has first position in the world in banana production. While Tamil Nadu  leads  other States with a share of 19.00 per  cent, Maharashtra   has highest  productivity of  58.60  metric  tonnes against India's average of 32.50 metric tonnes per ha. The other major banana growing states are Karnataka, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Assam The main varieties of banana are Dwarf Cavendish, Bhusaval Keli, Basrai, Poovan, Harichhal, Nendran, Safed velchi etc. Citrus fruits rank 3rd in area and production accounting  for About 12  and   10.4  per  cent  of the  total   area  and  production respectively.   Lime, lemons, sweet oranges and mandarin cover bulk of the area under these fruits and are  grown  mainly  in Maharashtra,  Andhra  Pradesh, Karnataka,   North-Eastern  States, Punjab, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh. Guava is the fourth most widely grown fruit crop in India. The area under guava is about 0.15 Million ha producing 1.80 MT. The popular varieties of guava are Allahabad Safeda, Lucknoe-49, Nagpur Seedless, Dharwar etc.    Bihar is the leading state  in guava production  with 0.30 MT followed by Andhra Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh. The other states where guava is grown widely   Gujarat, Karnataka, Punjab and Tamil Nadu. Grapes occupies fifth position amongst fruit crops with a production of 1.08 MT from an area of 0.04 Million ha. The major varieties of grapes grown in India are, Thomson Seedless, Sonaka, Anab-e-Shahi, Perlette, Banglore blue, Pusa seedless, Beauty seedless etc. Maharashtra occupies the first position with a production of 0.68 MT of grapes, followed by Karnataka. The other states growing grapes are Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.  The other major fruits grown in the country are Apple, Litchi, Papaya, Pineapple and Sapota