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.