Horticulture  in Madhya Pradesh :

Horticulture has and will always exist as a matrix of inter-relating areas with overlapping and complex relationships. The broader vision of horticulture embraces Plants, including the multitude of products and activities essential for human survival, whose active and passive involvement with “the garden” brings about benefits to them as individuals and to the communities and cultures they encompass. India’s per capita availability of horticulture produce is much below the per capita requirement prescibed by World Health Organisation.

Horticulture crops bring in the incomes to the small and marginal farmers due to high productivity and high value of produce as compared to food grains. Production of horticultural crops is beneficial for farmers as they could be grown with minimal farm inputs and could also be grown on waste lands (not suitable for agriculture). All the 11 agroclimatic zones in Madhya Pradesh are suitable for variety of horticulture crops. The productivity of vegetables though large, has shown a nominal rise in cropping intensity by 5.9% (between 1982-83 and 2005-06) whereas the cropping intensity of fruits has increased by 57% during the same period. The cropping intensity of spices has increased by 142.9% though amounts of production are miniscule in comparison to production of fruits and vegetables. The cropping intensity of medicinal and aromatic plants has declined by -7.8% mainly due to decrease in area under production of these crops.

The vegetables production is showing high fluctuations with a steep rise in production around 98-99 and then a decline, though the production of vegaetables is now increasing.

Policies and Programmes :

The programmes and schemes to promote Horticulture in Madhya Pradesh include:

• National Horticulture Mission
• Integrated fruit development scheme
• Banana orchard development programme
• Thrust on expansion of area under grape cultivation
• Integrated vegetable development programme
• Spices Potato Floriculture development programme
• Development of kitchen garden programme
• Promoting hybrid chillies
• Training of officers and employees of concerned departments
• Training of the farmers
• Supporting CSS Micro Irrigation Scheme

Many contract farming initiatives are taken for crops like potato, white onion and marigold. Creation of more and more food parks in the state are being taken up to encourage and strengthen the market linkages. Apart from these programmes state is working towards achievement of the vision of National Horticulture Mission. Under this mission the objectives are to enhance acreage coverage, productivity in potential belt, adoption of end-to-end approach covering production to post harvest management and processing. 

Concerns of Horticulture Sector :

Water is the major constraint for the horticultural crops in the state, particularly in the water stress conditions and drought like situations. Considering the perennial nature of fruit trees the impacts of droughts are generally visible and recognized in the later stages which is most of the time beyond the control of farmers. Water requirement of horticultural crops is also increasing due to increase in temperatures and thus affecting the production. Rise in temperature has led to early maturing and fruit fall in the various fruit bearing crops. For example, citrus, grape, melons and mango will mature earlier by about 15 days. Higher temperature will reduce the time period of tuber initiation process in potato, will affect quality of tomatoes and will lead to decrease in pollen viability, pollen release and pollen germination process in many crops. In case of crucifers, it may lead to bolting while anthocyanin production may be affected in capsicum. Specific chilling requirements of pome and stone fruits will be affected hence dormancy breaking will be earlier and thus decrease in the yield and quality. With rising temperatures, photoperiods may not show much variation. Onions, a photosensitive crop, will mature faster leading to small bulb size. Strawberries will have more runners and less fruits. Increase in temperature in winters will affect the crops maturing process of the winter crops. There is also an increase in incidences of damage to horticultural crops due to abnormal storms and hail storms. 

Soil temperature may increase in spring hence the planting time may also vary. This can be catastrophic if late frosts occur. The requirement of annual irrigation will increase, not only because of higher evaporation, but also because the trees will develop faster during the twelve month period. Heat units required will be achieved in much lesser time. Soil conditions may pose problems with an expected increase in acidity, alkalinity and salinity. The state lacks in robust storage and processing facilities which may pose threat to the already dwindling condition of the horticulture crops. Markets linkages are not uniformly present throughout the state and given the shorter shelf life of the produce, the activity has inbuilt risk and farmer’s doesn’t find it lucrative. The impacts of Climate Change and the systemic lacunae together are of serious concern for the state.