ICAR to address manpower shortage in farm research.

There is a wide disparity within states and between states on yield and productivity of various horticulture crops due to either non-availability of good planting material or of precision technology. Hence the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has launched major initiatives to take up need-based research and create a new generation of highly qualified scientists for this purpose.

ICAR is doing this through two initiatives called 'Farmer First' and 'Student Ready' to create suitable conditions for better and uniform horticulture production across the country. "We need to now focus on research that will solve the problems of farmers and is need-based. Council is trying to identify these problems for all horticultural crops or, for that matter, all crops under the Farmer First programme and take up research programmes based on demands of farmer," the ICAR deputy director general of horticulture N K Krishna Kumar told. 

Another major factor in improving the research quality in ICAR institutions was absence of qualified manpower. Kumar said there were many specialized areas in agriculture like plant breeding, virology, agriculture economics and micro-nutrition where qualified manpower was not available. To create manpower in these sectors council was focusing on improving the agriculture education through its Student Ready programme. "Human resource is the biggest hindrance in quality research in agriculture so the council is specifically targeting the post-graduate education in the state agriculture universities," he said.

ICAR, Kumar said, was also in the process of preparing a mega plan for ensuring biosecurity in agriculture to prevent entry of unwanted organisms like bacteria, viruses and fungi that move in and out of the country due to unchecked movement of the plant material. "We are hoping the National Bio-security Bill gets clearance during the ongoing parliamentary session. This will prevent entry of pathogens in the country and also allow India as a developed and responsible nation to not let domestic pathogens go out," he said.

The council was putting in serious efforts for conservation of all the genetic resources. But generally conservation was restricted to only seeds. So stress was now on conserving 'pollen grains' of various species through cryopreservation at minus 80 to minus 180 degrees Celsius for any future use. Registration of all plant varieties had become the order of the day, he added.

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ICAR plans to push fruit production 40% in five years

Horticulture is emerging as an effective tool for achieving both, 4% agricultural growth for the country and ensuring nutritional security for a large population. Hence, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is planning to increase the fruit and vegetable production by 40% in next five years.

ICAR is visualizing this growth through technology backing and a planned initiative of National Agriculture Resource System (NARS) with support from State Agriculture Universities (SAUs).

The council had launched 15 inter-institutional consortium projects and five 'Challenge' programmes.

ICAR was aiming to increase the fruit production from existing 251 million tonnes (MT) to 350 MT in next five years.

It is a big target as country achieved a ten times growth from 25 MT to 250 MT from 1950-51 until 2012. And now we want a 40% growth in horticulture to sustain the required agriculture growth.

Indian vegetable production at 156 million in 2011-12

During 2011-12, the production of fruits and vegetables in India was 76.42 million and 156.33 million tonnes, respectively.

The Department of Agriculture & Cooperation ministry said it is implementing various programmes to promote horticulture in the country.

Steps are being taken to increase production and productivity of crops, creating post harvest management, marketing infrastructure and setting up of processing units to increase access to fruits and vegetables for daily consumption for the common man.

The agriculture sector is estimated to grow at 1.9% in 2012-13 at 2004-05 prices and the contribution of agriculture to the GDP is likely to decline to 13.7% in 2012-13.

The decline in growth rate and contribution of agriculture to GDP is on account of structural changes due to a shift from a traditional agrarian economy to a service dominated one.

India’s path to prosperity isn’t through cities

It’s time to acknowledge that the Indian elite’s plan to replicate European sequence of modernization is a pipe dream….

Indian leaders often warn that they need to shift the majority of their country’s population—almost 70%—from rural to urban areas. Our salvation, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh claims, lies in moving people out of agriculture. Finance minister P. Chidambaram confirms, “My vision is to get 85% of India into cities.”

These dedicated urbanizers claim to have history on their side: the shift from agriculture to urban industry and manufacturing is how Europe, the US and, more recently, China enhanced their productivity and created capital for broader investments to modernize their economies.

Can India adopt this recipe for prosperity today? For one, Indian cities do not have the infrastructure to accommodate more rural migrants than they already have: a fact reflected in their pollution levels, power cuts, unsanitary conditions, social unrest and crime rates. Infrastructural constraints and political ineptitude and corruption make it unlikely that India can emulate China’s planned urbanization, building entirely new cities to house migrants.

Abandoning a crisis-ridden farming sector, millions of Indians already move from one temporary job to another; their destination can often be other villages. Living part-time in a village in Himachal Pradesh, I have been intrigued by the presence there of migrants from the poorest parts of rural India.

Temporary lives

Over the last 10 years, they have set up temporary lives near building sites across the valley, participating in India’s construction boom, which, even in this largely agrarian, unindustrialized part of the Himalayas, has sprayed residential complexes, private universities, dams and tunnels across green hills.

The labourers arrive bearing all the marks of a destitution depressingly commonplace in the plains, where small, unproductive land holdings and lack of irrigation radically shrink one’s opportunities: They are barefooted, scantily clothed, with rust-haired young children already showing the signs of chronic malnutrition that has made their parents small and painfully thin.

Over the years, I’ve seen their material conditions improve. Wages, suppressed at exploitative levels by their rich employers, began to rise after the government introduced its guaranteed employment programme in 2006. The immigrants managed to send their children to local state-run schools, which are better in Himachal than in most other states in India. Their health seems to have visibly improved.

But the construction boom is nearing its physical limits. In my own village, there is very little scope for developers left. Other potential sites suffer from lack of access to water and power. The recent devastating floods that reportedly killed tens of thousands of pilgrims in the region have highlighted the folly of unchecked construction in the Himalayas. Even the most venal among the politicians who struck lucrative contracts with real estate speculators will balk at approving more large-scale projects.

So the question now is: Where will the migrant labourers go next? Any attempt at an answer must quickly acknowledge that India’s economic trajectory is not following the European or Chinese map of development.

China, for instance, had a flourishing manufacturing sector that could absorb the tens of millions of people—the biggest such move in history—leaving an agrarian economy. And even China is having trouble creating enough jobs for the hundreds of millions its leaders wish to move to urban areas. India’s growth has been led by services, which account for almost 50% of the national GDP. At 28% of GDP, industrial output has barely budged since 1989, when it was 25%. Despite high GDP growth in recent years, employment has actually shrunk in the manufacturing sector, with fewer jobs available for the more than 12 million Indians entering the work force each year.

Stunted model

A recent article in India’s premier intellectual periodical, the Economic and Political Weekly, by Hans P. Binswanger-Mkhize points to the peculiarly stunted nature of India’s economic model: surplus labour in the agricultural sector, a manufacturing sector incapable of generating fresh jobs for workers from rural areas, and a tiny formal sector determined to engage only informal or contract labor.

Jobs are mostly being created in India’s already vast informal sector, where more than 90% of India’s workforce is employed in labour that ranges narrowly between scavenging and sweatshops. They contribute to the country’s GDP, but the degrading working conditions of most workers in the informal sector make their transition from rural to urban areas much less of a sustainable and desirable shift than it seems.

I have seen many young men in my village return from such jobs in cities, convinced that they are better off at home, farming the little land they have, and doing small jobs on the side. Lingering statistically near rather than way above the poverty line, they at least have the luxuries of cleaner air and water, and easier access to their families and friends.

It may be time to acknowledge that the Indian elite’s plan to replicate the European sequence of modernization—rural to urban, agriculture to manufacturing and services—is a pipe dream. No one apart from a few flat-earthers seriously believes that the growth of services will ever be enough to turn 1.2 billion people into well-off urban consumers; and, though India’s Planning Commission is determined to make manufacturing the engine of India’s economic growth, the country may have already lost the chance of creating labour-intensive industries that could absorb its large workforce and boost productivity.

It isn’t just mobile and promiscuous capital in the age of globalization that is to blame. Decades ago, the distinguished American economist Daniel Thorner pointed out that late-modernizing countries with large populations like India face the great disadvantage of industrializing at a time when technology is rapidly boosting output per worker. Greatly accelerated technological innovation now takes away jobs in developed economies as well.

Temporary solution

Theoretically at least, the construction boom in India could be kept going with greater investments. But China is presently weaning itself off this model of growth, revealing its built-in limits. Jobs in the informal non-farm sector are at best a temporary solution for people uprooted from rural areas. And the government’s job guarantee programmes and subsidies to (mostly rich) farmers are basically attempts to avoid a full reckoning with the India’s atypical dilemmas.

It increasingly makes sense for Indian leaders to acknowledge—rather than deny—the fact that they live in a land of small farmers, and start to tackle its fundamental problems of hunger and malnutrition through more productive and diversified agriculture. For this bottom-up approach to work, the government would have to increase its investments in irrigation and efficient water use.

More important, urbanizers will have to radically overhaul their broad vision of India, which is based on outdated and impractical economic models. Such reconsiderations are never easy. Perhaps, the hundreds of millions of uprooted men and women scrambling for poorly paid work on the margins of cities will help focus the strangely isolated minds at work on India’s future.

Australian agriculture urged to look to India

A new report released last week by the Australia India Institute argues Australia could be doing more to capitalise on massive growth in India. The report, called Unfinished Business: Re-imagining the Australia-India Economic Relationship, finds that in the next decade India may have to rely on imports of essential food because of climate change, population growth, and inefficiencies in food production.

If we are smart, Australia could help fill the void. Michael Moignard, a former trade commissioner to India and author of the report, says that food and water remain critical commodities in India. Without improvements in agriculture, India will soon become reliant on imports of food that it is currently self sufficient in.

India is also expected to experience a 30 per cent growth each year until 2016 in the organised food sector which includes supermarkets. This will influence the type of processed food purchased by Indian consumers who currently buy most of their food from local markets and small shops.

The report states that Australia is a significant supplier of pulses and lentils to India, and in recent years has provided dairy products, wine and lamb. However apart from a few retail products such as biscuits, fruit juice and cereals, Australian processed food producers have not been hugely successful in penetrating the Indian market.

Area under jhum cultivation significantly reduced in Arunachal

Arunachal Pradesh has made a significant progress in gradually doing away with the age-old practice of jhum cultivation or shifting cultivation, which degrades the environment. Jhum cultivation, also known as the slash and burn agriculture, is the process of growing crops by first clearing the land of trees and vegetation and burning them thereafter. The burnt soil contains potash which increases the nutrient content of the soil.

In line with the Centre's stress on conventional methods of cultivation, the state with a 72 per cent forest cover had been able to reduce the total area under jhum cultivation from 1,10,000 hectares to 84,000 hectares in the last 10 years, the state's agriculture department said. Agriculture department adviser A K Purkayastha said, "About 8.4 lakh metric tonnes of biomass gets lost due to burning of trees resulting in a huge emission of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxides and other gases. The emission has been reduced by taking up rice and maize cultivation in terraces." Purkyastha said that the harmful effects of jhum cultivation included rapid soil erosion due to deforestation of hill tops and slopes and high runoff velocity and siltation of reservoirs, rivulets and valleys.

"The harmful effects also resulted in the rapid decrease of jhum productivity due to removal of top soil by runoff water and very little time to recuperate soil fertility due to reduced jhum cycle," he pointed out. Sixteen districts encompassing the eight Northeastern states, including West Kameng and East Siang districts in Arunachal Pradesh, are among the recently-identified 100 most climate-sensitive districts of the country. A study has indicated that climate change can create impediments to some traditional practices especially paddy cultivation and fish culture in the famous Apatani plateau of Arunachal Pradesh. Purkayastha said that slashing or felling down of trees, herbs and shrubs for jhum cultivation reduces oxygen generation and burning of them pumps harmful carbon-monoxide, nitrous oxides and many other gases into the air.

Arunachal Pradesh, with over 50,000 sq km of moderate to very dense forests, is equivalent to 550 million cubic metres of growing stock or living assets (equivalent to 2000 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide) that serves as one of the major "carbon sinks" or "lungs" of the globe, Purkayastha said. Purkayastha endorsed the Centre's policy to abolish jhum cultivation and replace it by horticultural crops, saying it was a viable alternative for boosting the local economy while protecting the environment.

The state government's attachment of top priority to agriculture, horticulture and allied sectors, would add to the national food productivity and help achieve 6.5 per cent annual growth by the end of 12th Five Year Plan set by the Agriculture Ministry, he said.

 

Post-harvest losses ; Gujarat No.1 and Bihar second

Bihar incurs a post-harvest fruits and vegetable loss of over Rs. 10,700 crore annually, apex industry body Assocham. "Gujarat ranks second with post-harvest fruits and vegetable losses of about Rs. 11,400 crore, followed by Bihar (over Rs. 10,700 crore), Uttar Pradesh (Rs 10,300 crore) and Maharashtra (Rs 10,100 crore)," Assocham secretary general DS Rawat said.

Lack of proper storage facilities was responsible for wastage of substantial quantities of fruits and veggies produced in India and it could be prevented to a great extend by controlling post-harvest environmental conditions, Rawat said. "The magnitude of post-harvest loss in fruits and vegetables can be minimised by proper cultural operations, harvesting, transportation, storage, pre and post harvest treatments and other such significant measures," Rawat said.

"Considering that storage is most important aspect of post-harvest fruit and vegetable handling as it extends the storage life of the produce thereby enhancing its availability period," he added. Rawat said the total storage capacity in India was over 300 lakh million tonnes and there was an additional requirement of cold storage of about 370 lakh tonnes for fruits and vegetable storage.

"The existing cold storage capacity in India is confined only to wholesale markets while majority of fruits and vegetables are sold at local or regional markets which do not have cold storage facility," said Rawat.

"The wholesale market development is also equally important for reducing post-harvest losses as in its absence price transparency gets undermined and transaction costs rise," he said. Storage and handling conditions need to be enhanced in the fruit and vegetable markets thereby providing infrastructure facilities to bring down post-harvest losses and promote increased productivity, the study reveals. 

West Bengal is India's leading horticulture producing state with over 27,000 tonne of fruits and vegetables produced across the state annually, thereby accounting for over 10 % share across India. Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra are other states that have topped in horticulture production, accounting for a share between 8% to 9%.

"About 30% of total fruits and vegetables produced are rendered unfit for consumption due to spoilage after harvesting as they are highly perishable commodities," said Rawat.

Horticulture to see Double-Digit Growth in XII Plan

Agriculture and Food Processing Industries Minister Shri Sharad Pawar informed members of Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to his ministry that Horticulture Mission for North East and Himalayan States (HMNEH) has helped in increasing the production of fruits and vegetables in HMNEH states from 10.1 mt. in 2001-02 to 16.5 mt. in 2012-13. 

The Minister said that an evaluation study on the performance of the HMNEH activities was conducted through the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad during 2012-13 and their report has indicated a positive impact on development of horticulture with the launching of HMNEH. 

The enhanced production of fruit and vegetable in the country has increased the per capita availability of these items. India has emerged as a leader in the production of mango, banana, guava, papaya and okra. The earning from the export of horticulture produce has increased from the level of Rs. 150 crore in 1991-92 to Rs. 9000 crore in 2011-12. 

The Minister expressed the hope that horticulture will see a double-digit growth rate in horticulture during the 12th plan period. The Minister said that cultivation of horticultural crops results in high returns per unit of land and better employment opportunities, and is a potential source of foreign exchange. Horticulture also enables optimum utilization of land resources in an eco-friendly manner. The HMNEH scheme envisages an end to end approach covering a variety of intervention involving production and productivity enhancement, post-harvest management, and marketing and processing. The mission is being implemented in all the districts of North-East and Himalayan States.  

Is maize the new wonder crop after wheat and rice

For the first time, govt has an MSP for maize, which is equivalent to paddy at Rs 1,350 per quintal for 2013 crop to encourage farmers to grow more crop

After wheat and rice, the next big thrust to Indian farming is expected to come from maize (corn). For the first time, the government has a MSP for maize which is equivalent to paddy at Rs 1,350 per quintal for the 2013 crop to encourage growers to plant more of the crop. The crop has been included in the government’s ambitious Rs 500 crore crop diversification strategy for North Indian states of Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh. 

Its exports also for the first time ever has reached a record around 5 million tonnes in 2013-14 up 24% from previous years, which has made India one of the biggest exporters of the commodity. In India maize is cultivated largely in Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. World over maize is the biggest cereal consumed, more than even wheat and rice.

“Maize I feel is a crop which could help Indian  farmers in many ways and can be a good and profitable alternative to paddy,” eminent agriculture economist and Chairman of Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices (CACP) Ashok Gulati told. He said government should provide some incentive other than price support mechanism to encourage farmers to grow maize as it has ready use in starch and feedmeal industries. India’s annual maize production  is around 21-22 million tonnes.

Production of vegetables in India at 156 million in 2011-12

The per capita availability of milk, fruits and vegetables in the country is 290 gram, 200 gram and 401 gram, respectively which is comparable to the world average, as per estimates of the ministry of agriculture. During 2011-12, the production of fruits and vegetables in India was 76.42 million tonne and 156.33 million tonne, respectively. Department of agriculture & cooperation, the ministry said, is implementing various programmes for promotion of horticulture in the country. Under this, steps are being taken to increase production and productivity of crops, creation of post harvest management and marketing infrastructure and setting up of processing units to increase access of common man to fruits and vegetables for daily consumption. As per provisional estimates, the agriculture sector is estimated to grow at 1.9% in 2012-13 at 2004-05 prices and the contribution of agriculture to the GDP is likely to decline to 13.7% in 2012-13. The decline in growth rate and contribution of agriculture to GDP is on account of structural changes due to a shift from a traditional agrarian economy to a service dominated one.

BARC grows 41 varieties of crops through 'nuclear agriculture'

A day after the world's first synthetic burger was unveiled in London, India had its own Eureka moment of food modification. The Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC) announced Tuesday that it had developed 41 varieties of crops under its nuclear agriculture programme in Trombay. These include 15 varieties of groundnut, three kinds of mustard, two types of soyabean and one variety of sunflower. Eight types of moong, four kinds of tuvar, five kinds of urad, and one variety each of chouli, rice and jute was cultivated.

Dr Suresh G Bhagwat, head of nuclear agriculture & biotechnology, BARC, said this at a Press Club Knowledge Series event organised by BARC and the Public Relations Council of India (PRCI). He said, If India has to be self-reliant in food production it is imperative to embrace nuclear agriculture technology. More so because agricultural land is becoming scarce and the demand for food is growing.'' Bhagwat said radiation on plants can enhance genetic variability'' which can be harnessed for developing new varieties of crops like cereals, pulses and oilseeds. These can be infused with special qualities like increased yield, disease resistance, early maturity and salinity- or water-stress tolerance. BARC has also developed elite varieties of banana.

India's Cold Storage Capacity at 418 Lakh MT

Recognizing the farmers’ need for storage to prevent compulsive sale at low prices and distress sale, the Government of India, Ministry of Agriculture launched a Central Sector Scheme ‘Grameen Bhandaran Yojana’ w.e.f. 01.04.2001. The objective of the scheme is to create scientific storage with allied facilities in rural areas to meet various requirements of farmers for storing their farm produce till the market prices are favorable and to prevent distress sale by creating the facility of pledge loan and marketing credit. Since the inception of the scheme w.e.f. 1/4/2001 and up to 30 June, 2013, 31679 godowns having a capacity of 418.37 lakh MT with a subsidy release of Rs.1115.53 crores have been sanctioned by NABARD & NCDC all over the country.  The scheme has been revised and made more attractive by allowing assistance to projects upto maximum capacity of 25,000 MT in North Eastern States with maximum ceiling on subsidy @ Rs.3.333 crores and upto 30,000 MT for other than North Eastern States with maximum ceiling on subsidy @ Rs. 3 crores.

India's per Capita Availability of Milk and Fruits Comparable to World Average

As per estimates, the per capita availability of milk, fruits and vegetables in the country is 290 gram, 200 gram and 401 gram, respectively which is comparable to the World average.  During 2011-12, the production of fruits and vegetables in India was 76.42 million tonnes and 156.33 million tonnes, respectively.  Department of Agriculture & Cooperation is implementing various programmes for promotion of horticulture in the country. Under which, steps are being taken to increase production and productivity of crops, creation of post harvest management and marketing infrastructure and setting up of processing units to increase access of common man to fruits and vegetables for daily consumption.  This information was given by Tariq Anwar, Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Processing Industries in written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.  

India's AEZs now cover 40 agricultural products

Agri export zones (AEZs) in the country now cover about 40 different agricultural commodities spread across 20 states in the country. All the 60 AEZs have been notified by Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) and have completed their span of five years, minister of state for commerce and industry D Purandeswari informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

The agri export zones are set up on the basis of particular produce / products that are grown largely in a contiguous area for the purpose of developing and sourcing the raw materials, their processing / packaging, leading to final exports. Thus, the entire effort is centered on a cluster approach of identifying the potential products, the geographical region in which these are grown and adopting an end-to-end approach of integrating the entire process, right from the stage of production till it reaches the market.

State-wise and location-wise details of the AEZs are as follow:

Assam: Fresh & Processed Ginger at Kamrup, Nalbari, Barpeta, Darrang, Nagaon, Morigaon, Karbi Anglong and North Cachar districts.

Andhra Pradesh: Mangoes at Krishna district; Mango pulp and fresh vegetables at Chittoor district; mango and grapes  at Ranga Reddy, Medak and parts Mahabob Nagar districts; gherkins in  Mahboobnagar, Rangareddy, Karimnagar, Warangal, Medak Ananthapur and Nalgonda and chillies at guntur.

Bihar: Lichee, vegetables and honeyin Muzaffarpur, Samastipur, Hajipur, Vaishali, East and West Champaran, Bhagalpur, Begulsarai, Khagaria, Sitamarhi, Saran and Gopalganj.

Gujarat: Mango and vegetables: Gujarat at Ahmedabad, Khadia, Anand, Vadodra, Surat, Navsari, Valsad, Bharuch and Narmada; value added onion at Bhavnagar, Surendranagar, Amreli, Rajkot, Junagadh and Jamnagar districts; Sesame seeds at Amerali, Bhavnagar, Surendranagar, Rajkot and Jamnagar.

Himachal Pradesh: Applesat Shimla, Sirmour, Kullu, Mandi, Chamba and Kinnaur.

Karnataka: Gherkins Tumkur, Bangalore Urban, Bangalore Rural, Hassan, Kolar, Chitradurga, Dharwad and Bagalkot; rose onions at Bangalore urban and rural districts, Kolar; flowers at Bangalore (urban and rural), Kolar, Tumkur, Kodagu and Belgaum; vanilla at Dakshin Kannada, Uttara Kannada, Udupi, Shimoga, Kodagu, Chickamagalur.

Jammu & Kashmir: Apples in the districts of Srinagar, Baramula, Anantnag, Kupwara, Badgaum and Pulwama; Walnuts at Jammu & Kashmir regions of Baramulla, Anantnag, Pulwama, Budgam, Kupwara and Srinagar and Jammu region's - Doda, Poonch, Udhampur, Rajouri and Kathua.

Jharkhand: Vegetables aty Ranchi, Hazaribagh and Ohardaga.

Kerala: Horticulture products Thrissur, Kollam, Ernakulam, Kottayam, Alappuzha, Pathanumthitta, Thiruvanthapuram, Idukki and Palakkod; medicinal plants at Wayanad, Mallapuram, Palakkad, Thrissur, Ernakulam, Idukki, Kollam, Pathanamittha, Thiruvananthapuram.

Madhya Pradesh: Potatoes, onion and garlic at Malwa, Ujjain, Indore, Dewas, Dhar, Shajajpur, Ratlam, Neemuch and Mandsaur; seed spices in districts of Guna, Mandsaur, Ujjain, Rajgarh, Ratlam, Shajapur and Neemuch; wheat (Duram) at three distinct and contiguous zones  - Ujjain Zone comprising of Neemach, Ratlam, Mandsaur and Ujjain; Indore Zone comprising Indore, Dhar, Shajapur and Dewas and Bhopal Division comprising Sehore, Vidisha, Raisen, Hoshangabad, Harda, Narsinghpur and Bhopal; lentil and grams: Shivpuri, Guna, Vidisha, Raisen, Narsinghpura, Chhindwara and Oranges at Chhindwara, Hoshangabad, Betul.

Maharashtra: Grape and grapewine at Nasik, Sanghli, Pune, Satara, Ahmednagar and Sholapur; mangos: (Alphonso variety) at Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Raigarh and Thane (Kesar variety) at Aurangabad, Beed, Jalna, Ahmednagar and Latur; flowers: Pune, Nasik, Kolhapur and Sangli; onions at Nasik, Ahmednagar, Pune Satara, Jalgaon and Solapur; pomegranate at Solapur, Sangli, Ahmednagar, Pune Nasik, Latur, Osmanabad; bananas at Jalgaon, Dhule, Nandurbar, Buldhana, Wardha, Parbhani, Hindoli, Nanded districts; oranges: Nagpur and Amravoti;

Orissa: ginger and turmeric at Kandhamal district.

Punjab: vegetables Fatehgarh Sahib, Patiala, Sangrur, Ropar and Ludhiana; potatos Singhpura Zirakpur in Patiala district, Rampura Phul, Muktsar, Ludhiana, Jullunder; Basmati ricein the Districts of Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur and Nawanshahar

Rajasthan: coriander at Kota, Bundi, Baran, Jhalawar & Chittoor; cumin at Nagaur, Barmer, Jalore, Pali and Jodhpur.

Sikkim: flowers (orchids) and cherry pepper; ginger at Sikkim (north, east, south and west Sikkim).

Tripura: organic pineapple at Kumarghat, Manu, Melaghar, Matabari and Kakraban blocks

Tamil Nadu: flowers at Tamil Nadu Dharmapuri and Nilgiri districts; mangoes at Tamil Nadu's districts of Madurai, Theni, Dindigul, Virudhunagar and Tirunelveli; cashewnut: Cuddalore, Thanjavur, Pudukottai and Sivaganga.

Uttar Pradesh: potatos at Agra, Hathras, Farrukhabad, Kannoj, Meerut, Baghpat and Aligarh; mangoes and vegetables at Lucknow, Unnao, Hardo, Sitapur and Barabanki; mangoes at Saharanpur, Muzzfarnagar, Bijnaur, Meerut, Bhagpat and Bulandshahar; Basmati rice at Districts of Bareilly, Shahajahanpur, Pilibhit, Rampur, Badaun, Bijnor, Moradabad, J B Phulenagar, Saharanpur, Mujjafarnagar, Meerut, Bulandshahar, Ghaziabad.

Uttaranchal: lichees Udhamsingh Nagar, Dehradun and Nainital; flowers districts of Dehradun and Pantnagar; Basmati rice at districts of Udham Singh Nagar, Nainital, Dehradun and Haridwar; medicinal and aromatic plants at Districts of Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Pithoragarh, Dehradun and Nainital.

West Bengal: lichees at districts of Murshidabad Malda, 24 Pargana (north) and 24 Pargana south; potatos at Districts of Hoogly, Burdwan, West Midnapore, Uday Narayanpur and Howrah; mangos at Malda and Murshidabad; vegetablesNadia, Murshidabad and North 24 Parganas; Darjeeling tea at Darjeeling; pineapple at Darjeeling, Uttar Dinajpur, Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri.

The AEZs are expected to converge the efforts made, hitherto, by various central and state government departments for increasing exports of agricultural commodities from India. These agri zones take a comprehensive view of a particular produce / product located in a geographically contiguous area for the purpose of developing and sourcing raw materials, their processing/packaging, and leading to final exports. The government had undertaken a peer evaluation of the existing AEZs in 2005 to assess their performance. On the basis of the recommendations of the peer group in 2005, it was decided not to consider notification of new AEZs unless there were strong compelling reasons to do so.

Pak's Vegetable, fruit exports rise

Export of fruits and vegetables rose by 16 per cent fetching $625 million in 2012-2013 as compared to $538m in 2011-2012.

Exporters found new markets such as South Korea, Mauritius and Japan for fruits in the last one year. Pakistani potatoes found way into the Middle East after seven years which also helped in boosting exports. The FY13 proved good for exports of onion, kinno and potato thus setting new records.

Chairman All Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Importers and Merchants Association, Waheed Ahmed said potato exports stood around 300,000 tonnes in 2012-2013 because of start of exports to the Middle East.

He said a new record was set with the export of 250,000 tonnes of onion thanks to its bumper crop in the country. However, floods and rains had proved disastrous for onion crop in 2011-2012 and Pakistan had to import onion from India to meet the domestic requirement.

He said export target for kinno was also met after three years during 2012-2013 with shipment of 275,000 tonnes.

He saw huge potential in export to the tune of one billion dollar in fruits and vegetables by promoting research and development in the horticulture sector.

According to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), quantity of fruits and vegetables stood at 709,980 tonnes and 724,258 tonnes in 2012-2013 as compared to 737,029 and 523,863 tonnes respectively in 2011-2012.

The exports of fruits and vegetables definitely seem good in view of foreign exchange earnings but Pakistani markets saw frequent arrival of imported fruits especially in the off season or any local production crisis. Some of the prominent fruits arriving from various countries including India and Iran were onion, tomato, green vegetables, bananas, apple, pears, grapes and Indian mango which were sold in high prices.

Waheed said there is no check and balance in the arrival of imported fruits from any part of the world but local exporters face strict rules and regulations to send their shipments to various foreign destinations.