Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Horticulture crops, in general, are more knowledge and capital-intensive
than staple crops. Today horticulture in India is a more vibrant and dy-
namic sector than ever before. It contributes nearly 30% of the agricultural
GDP. Annual production of 74.8 million tons of fruits, 146.5 million tons
of vegetables and 1.03 million tons of loose flowers (NHB, 2011) have to
be increased substantially to cope with increasing demand of these com-
modities due to increasing population and expanding domestic and exter-
nal markets. Short-term growth and long-term viability of any sector are
critically dependent on access to technical knowledge, the ability to adapt
that knowledge to local conditions and the flexibility to develop new pro-
duction systems as market conditions change. Successful production of a
horticultural crop depends on understanding of various factors affecting
plant growth, fruiting, and manipulation of these factors for higher pro-
ductivity and improved quality cultural activities.
In the past three decades aspects like plant density, planting time, ma-
nuring, irrigation, weed management, intercropping, training and prun-
ing, disease and insect pests management have attracted attention of the
scientists and a great deal of work has been done on standardizing these
practices for higher productivity per unit area and possible reduction in
the cost of production. In the recent past, the growth of horticulture sector
has been far better than the overall growth of the agriculture sector. How-
ever, expanding the scale of horticultural production is often complicated
by substantial problems. In the last 20-25 years, research and develop-
ment scenario in horticulture has gained momentum with an impressive
public and private support. The research institutes have developed a large
number of technologies to improve the productivity and quality of fruits,
vegetables and flowers. Some of these technologies require high degree of
instrumentation and involves specific skills and accuracy to perform them.
They are generally considered under hi-tech horticulture.
1.2
CLIMATE CHANGE
There are growing evidences to show that climate change has already af-
fected agricultural productivity and will put increasing pressure on agri-
culture in the coming decades. Record breaking extreme weather events in
