The Agriculture Ministry of India has updated its forecasts for cultivation of the most important vegetables, including potatoes and onions for the period 2023-24. According to the revised estimates, there will be smaller production numbers and the onion crop is expected to be reduced by 6 million tonnes, which brings the production forecast to 24.2 million tonnes. The reason for this is less production estimates in states like Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Andhra Pradesh. The production of potato will decrease by 3.4 million tonnes to 56.8 million tonnes, mostly due to lower production in Bihar as well as West Bengal.

In contrast, the output of tomatoes is expected to rise by 3.98 percent, reaching 21.2 million tonnes. In the ministry’s second advance Estimates provide a general rise in the yield of various vegetables including bottle gourds bitter gourd, bottle gourd, cabbage the cauliflower, pumpkin carrot, tapioca and tomatoes, placing the entire vegetable output at approximately 205 million tons.

Alongside crops, the production of flowers, fruits, honey plants, spice crops and aromatics is predicted to rise over the 2023-24 time frame. Production of fruit alone is predicted to rise to 112.63 million tonnes thanks to increased production of limes, bananas mangoes, guavas and grapes, in spite of an expected decrease in production of apples and pomegranates.

The total harvest of horticulture produced in India in 2023-24 is projected to be around 352.23 million tons. This is an increase of 3.3 million tons from estimations for the last fiscal year.

Source: cnbctv18.com