Horticulture Development in Uttarakhand :

The geographical attributes and climatic conditions of the state are ideal for production of temperate and subtropical fruit crops. In hilly areas, fruits like apple, pear, peach, plum, khumani and walnut are produced while mango, litchi, malta, santra, lemon, aonla, guava, and pomegranate are mostly grown in Tarai and valley areas. Major vegetables grown in the state are potato, cauliflower, tomato, onion, brinjal, pea, cabbage and okra. The state has a unique advantage of producing off-season vegetables in hilly areas, which fetches good price in the market. Major spices are ginger, garlic, turmeric and chilly.

Details of area, production and productivity of major Horticulture crops in the state are as under (2015-16):

Crops                    Area                Production         Productivity State           Productivity National level             Rank in the Country-in terms of productivity

                               (Lakh ha)        (Lakh MT)          (MT Ha)

 Fruit                      1.753                 6.591                    3.76                                    11.70                                                       30th

Vegetable             0.898                 9.454                     10.52                                  17.30                                                        23th

Spices                  0.126                 0.857                       6.82                                    1.80                                                          01st

Flowers                0.013             Loose-0.017,                   -                                                -                                                       -                                                                                                 Cut-1471 lakh no.

Total                   2.790                  16.919

Ranking of Uttarakhand in Horticulture in India:

• Uttarakhand rank first in the country in production of Pear(0.788 lakh MT), Peach (0.579 lakh MT), Plum (0.362 lakh MT) and Apricot(0.282 lakh MT).
• Uttarakhand rank second in the country in production of Walnut(0.19 lakh MT) followed by J&K(2.10 lakh MT) .
• Uttarakhand rank third in the country in production of Apple (0.62 lakh MT) followed by J&K (13.68 lakh MT) and HP(6.25 lakh MT).
• Uttarakhand produce 14.70 crore spikes of cut flowers and rank eighth  in the country.
• Productivity of spices is highest ( 6.82 MT/ha) in the country against national average of 1.85 MT/ ha.
• Uttarakhand rank eighteenth in the country in establishing food processing units.

Departmental Infrastructure:

• Department have 94 Government nurseries for production of quality planting material and seeds out of these 24 nurseries developed as State of art gardens.
• 319 horticulture mobile teams (Input Centers) for distribution of horticulture inputs and dissemination of technology of the farmers.
• 50 community fruit preservation cum training centers.
• 03 pasteurized composed production center at Dehradun, Jyolikot and Bhimtal in Nainital for promotion of Mushroom.
• 02 Horticulture training center at Chaubatia and Srinagar working at present and 2 new are being setup at Kashipur (USN) and Jarmola(Uttarkashi).
• Honey production center at Jyolikot, Nainital.
• Uttarakhand Horticulture Marketing Board.
• State Horticulture& Forestry  University at Bharsar(Pauri)  and Agriculture & Technology University at Pantnagar.

Policy / Administrative Measures in Horticulture Sector:

• Uttarakhand University of Horticulture and Forestry(UUHF) was established in 2011 at Bharsar, District Pauri. Uttarakhand is the 3rd State to set up separate University for Horticulture and Forestry. Other States are Andhra Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. Now Karnataka has also set up. 
• Single window system has been created to expedite sanction / clearance of projects under MSME.
• Under Ease of Doing Business, Uttarakhand rank 9th in the country.
• A separate Horticulture Marketing Board has been setup to promote marketing of horticulture produce and to ensure better price of produce to farmers .
• To promote protected cultivation especially among small and marginal farmers and hilly areas, Mukhyamantri Sanrakshit Kheti Yojana has been launched during 2011-12with provision of 30% additional subsidy from State budget up to 500 sqm Green Houses per beneficiary.
• Weather Based Crop Insurance cover has been provided to farmers for apple, litchi, mango, malta, peach, tomato, potato, pea, chilli and ginger.
• Fruit Wine Policy incorporating a number of fiscal incentives has been promulgated to promote fruit based wineries. 
• Vision Document for Food Processing Sector for next 10 years has been prepared.

Status of Food Processing Industry in Uttarakhand :

• Four Agri Export Zones (AEZs) have already been declared under the AEZ scheme of Government of India for litchi, floriculture, herbs & medicinal plants and basmati rice.
• Two Mega Food Park (Patanjali Food & Herbal Park Ltd, Haridwar and Himalaya Food park, Kashipur) have been set up under  Mega Food Parks Scheme of Ministry of Food Processing Industries. 
•  Leading players in food processing industry like Nestle, Britannia, Dabur, ITC, Flex Food, Indian Glycol, Apis India have setup their processing facilities in the state with cumulative investments of over Rs. 1000 crore. In addition, there are a number of small and medium sized food processing units in the state.
• The status of Food Processing Industry in the State is as under:- Total established units: 512, Horticulture based units 403, Non horticulture based units 109.

Way Forward :

• Establishment of Farmer-Consumer Markets/Apni Mandi in Urban locations.
• Primary Processing of Commodities (pack house, collection, sorting, grading, pre-cooling etc) at Farm Gate Level.
• Development of infrastructure such as -, integrated pack house, cold rooms/cold storages, CA storage for temperate fruits, ref vans, ripening chambers etc to reduce post harvest losses.
• Setting up of Pulp units for Mango, Litchi and Tomato and juice plants for Apple and IQF units for fruits vegetables.
• Branding of different produce of Uttarakhand.
• Enhancing productivity by rejuvenating senile orchards.
• Promoting organic farming.
• Promoting Horticulture Mechanization to reduce drudgery.