UPSC Mains 2018 GS Paper 3 Q13: model answer

Since 2012–13 India's horticulture output has exceeded its foodgrain output, and it has now crossed 350 million tonnes, grown on only about a sixth of the cropped area. The National Horticulture Mission (NHM), launched in 2005–06 and merged into the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) in 2014–15, has been a major driver.

Role in production

• Area expansion under fruit, vegetables, spices and flowers.
• Cluster approach: Nashik onions, Jalgaon bananas, Kashmir apples.
• Nurseries and quality planting material.

Role in productivity

• Protected cultivation: polyhouses and shade nets for vegetables and flowers.
• Micro-irrigation and fertigation for orchards.
• Rejuvenation of old orchards; high-density planting in mango and apple.
• Integrated pest management and training through KVKs.

Role in income

• High value per hectare: horticulture earns several times more than cereals on the same land.
• Post-harvest infrastructure: pack houses, ripening chambers, cold storage.
• FPOs and exports of grapes, pomegranates and mangoes.

How far it succeeded

• Incomes rose in clusters with markets: grape growers in Maharashtra, apple growers in Himachal.
• But post-harvest losses of roughly 5–15% in fruit and vegetables remain (NABCONS, 2022).
• Price volatility: tomato and onion growers swing between windfall and dumping produce on roads.
• Cold storage is concentrated in potato belts of UP and West Bengal.
• Small farmers struggle with the upfront cost of polyhouses.
• Quality of planting material from private nurseries is uneven, and orchards take years to pay back.

Way forward

• Operation Greens for TOP crops, now extended to other perishables.
• Cluster Development Programme, and processing linked to the PM Kisan Sampada Yojana.
• Price-risk tools and crop insurance for horticulture.

NHM raised what India grows; the next step is raising what the grower keeps.