Horticulture of Rajasthan
The salient features of Horticulture in Rajasthan are summarized below:
- 90% of the rainfall is received during monsoon season. In addition to spatial variation there is much variation in yearly pattern in rainfall.
- Mango, Aonla, Pomegranate, Guava, Santra,Kinnu, Ber and Malta are the main horticulture fruits.
- 90% nurseries are registered in the state.
- 175273 hectare drip are installed in the state up to 2016-17.
- The fruit like Kinnow & Santra were exported to the countries Srilanka, England, Malaysia & Dubai similarly spices crops like Coriander & Ajwain including Cumin & Fenugreek were exported to the countries Srilanka & Dubai, respectively in addition to the above medicinal crops Sonamukhi, Mehandi, & Kalonji were exported to Dubai.
As far as scenario of horticulture in the State is concerned, it is full of potential as the diverse agro-climatic conditions are very much favoring growing of large number of horticultural crops like fruits, vegetables, spices, flowers and medicinal & aromatic plants through out the year. It is only 1989, when separate department of horticulture came into existence with ultimate objective of harnessing the potential of horticulture in the State in a systematic and planned manner so as to increase area, production and productivity of different horticultural crops and there by to improve nutritional as well as economic status of people of State.
As a result during 2016-17, about 16.29 lakhs ha area is reported to be under horticultural crops against gross cropped area of 260 lakhs ha. This includes 0.53 lakh ha under fruit crops, 1.70 lakhs ha under vegetable crops 9.91 lakhs ha under spices crops, 0.03 lakh under flowers and 4.11 lakhs ha area under medicinal & aromatic crops which comes to about 6.26% of gross cropped area. As far as production of these crops is concerned, it is 9.62 lakhs MT in fruits,18.12, 15.49, 0.04 & 3.56 lakhs MT in vegetables, spices, flowers and medicinal & aromatic crops respectively.
The strength of Rajasthan in respect of Horticulture crops.
- First in Mehandi Production.
- First position in Coriander production in india for the year (2016-17)
- First in Isabgol production.
- Second in Cumin Production (2016-17)
- Second position in respect of Total Spices production for the year (2016-17)
- Citrus fruits: fourth in Mandarin (Oranges) production and the production of the best quality of Kinnow.
- The Horticultural Development Program have been expanded form 24 districts to cover all 33 districts with the help of Agriculture Extension workers.
- Encouragement is being given to make proper use of limited source water in view of its scarcity by installation of drip system and sprinkler sets.
- Fruits orchards 7674, 9641, 4756, 3827 hectares were established to during 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17 respectively.
- Minikits and demonstrations are distributed to the cultivators through lottery system in view of keeping transparency.
- Production of mushroom spawn to mushroom laboratory Durgapura Jaipur and Reni Bagh Kota.
- Cultivators are growing mainly plaurotus and Agaricus in the state
Udaipur division is the leader in the State in the production of Custard Apple, Mango, Ginger, Ajwain, Turmeric, and Aswagandha and Kalonji.
Some of the other horticultural crops grown in Udaipur Division are :
- Spice Crops: Red chillies, Methi, Cumin, Fennel, Garlic & Coriander
- Fruits & Vegetables: Tomato, Cauliflower, Brinjal, Okara, Matar, Ridge gourd, Pomergranate, Pumpkin, Anola, Lime & Guava
- Other Horticultural Crops: Colocasia, Isabgol & Opium
The major contributions to the state’s horticulture crop production by the Udaipur division in 2016-17 were:
- Custard Apple – 94%,
- Mango – 35%,
- Ginger – 100%,
- Ajwain- 84%,
- Aswagandha – 99%,
- Kalonji- 81%,
- Pumpkin – 49%
In terms of production, the districts in Udaipur Division leads amongst all the districts in the state:
Rajasthan has large scope for development of horticulture. It provides additional employment opportunities to the rural people, while diversifying the rural economy to agro processing and other ancillary activities. Looking to the ample opportunities of horticulture development, a separate Directorate of Horticulture was established in 1989-90, with the objective of growth in area, production & productivity of fruits, vegetables, spices, flowers and medicinal plant crops in a planned way. During the year 2016-17, `444.92 crore is proposed under state plan, against which a sum of `119.18 crore has been utilized upto December, 2016. Establishment of fruit orchards in 58 hectare, plant protection measures in 2,812 hectare and 2,888 demonstrations of vegetables have been laid out under state plan schemes.
To increase the area, production and productivity of different horticulture crops like fruits, spices and flowers in selected 24 districts namely Jaipur, Ajmer, Alwar, Chittorgarh, Kota, Baran, Jhalawar, Jodhpur, Pali, Jalore, Barmer, Nagaur, Banswara, Tonk, Karauli, Sawai Madhopur, Udaipur, Dungarpur, Bhilwara, Bundi, Jhunjhunu, Sirohi, Jaisalmer and Sri-Ganganagar this scheme is being implemented For this scheme provision of `96.20 crore (`52.92 crore as central share and `43.28 crore as state share) for was made 2016-17. An expenditure of `33.94 crore (`20.36 crore as central share and `13.58 crore as state share) has been incurred upto December, 2016 under NHM. Orchards of fruits and spices have been established in 3,288 hectare and 1341 hectare respectively during this period. A total of 314 hectare has been covered under Integrated Pest Management Programme. 2.79 lakh square meters area has been covered under green houses and 157 vermi compost units have been established, 56 water harvesting structure have been built upto December, 2016.
National Agro-Forestry and Bamboo Mission
(NABM)
Under this scheme the districts of Karauli, Swai Madhopur, Udaipur, Chittorgarh, Banswara, Dungarpur, Sirohi, Baran, Jhalawar, Bhilwara, Rajasmand and Pratapgarh were taken up for promoting bamboo cultivation. For implementing this scheme in the year 2016-17, a provision of `2.90 crore has been made for new plantation of bamboo and maintenance of previous year plantation. Recently GoI has discontinued the scheme and only maintenance of previous year plantation is been
considered for release.
Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY)
Looking at the consistent decrease in investments in agriculture and allied sectors the Central Government has introduced RKVY to draw up plans for agriculture sector more comprehensively, taking into account agro-climatic conditions, natural resource issues and technology. Under this scheme, the State level sanctioning committee sanctioned the horticulture development project worth `87.87 crore during the year 2016-17 and `12.72 crore have been utilized upto December, 2016.
After setting up of Directorate of Horticulture in the State, area, production and productivity have increased tremendously. The details of area, production and productivity of fruits, vegetable and spices are shown in table 5.4.
