• Scope and importance of fruit cultivation, nutritional,

commercial, industrial and medicinal importance of fruit

crops
• important role in the prosperity of any nation
• higher tonnage of yield per unit area than other field crops.
• Even a hybrid rice variety can give only a maximum of 24
tonnes three crops per year
• banana crop can yield 35-40 tonnes per hectare.
• Papaya gives 100-150 tonnes per hectare in 2 ½ years which
works out of 40-60 tonnes per year and mango gives 25
tonnes from a hectare.
• Mango and papaya fruits have been estimated to be very
good sources of readily available beta-carotene, 1990 ug per
100 g in mango and 880 ug per 100 g in papaya.
• bajra supplies only 132 ug of beta-carotene per 100 g, wheat
supplies hardly 64 ug per 100g.
• They are the biologically active substances in plants that give
them colour, flavour, odour and protection against not only
diseases affecting the plants but also human being
• role in preventing cancer and other degenerative diseases.
• promising phytochemicals which act as antioxidants are
bioflavanoids (Vitamin P), phenolics, lycopene, carotenoids,
antioxidant vitamins (C and E) and glucosinolates.
• The potential of fruit crops in the growth of national economy
is noteworthy.
• Being a country having varied climatic conditions ranging from
tropical to subtropical and to temperate, India has very
immense potential for the production of different fruits and
their export.
• During 1998-99, 1.18 lakh tonnes of fruits and nuts valued at
Rs.24,714 lakhs were exported from India.
• During 2002 India ranked second in annual production of
fruits with 48.57 million tonnes accounting for about 10.3% of
total world fruit production.
• Recent policies of the Government of India to encourage
export of fruits and their products by announcing concessions
to the fruit industry such as reduced air freight charges and
exemption for storage charges for refrigerated air cargo at
international airports have encouraged a number of private
entrepreneurs / corporate bodies and NRIs to go in for
planting larger area under fruit crops with an aim to export
fruits and fruit products.
• The foregoing account is given with a view to emphasize the
growing importance of the fruit industry. As could be seen
from the details given therein, the fruit culture in vital to the
health and economy of the nation, from the stand point of
increased food production, nutrition, trade and fruit based
industries
• FRUIT PRODUCTION SCENARIO, STATE AND
NATIONAL LEVEL, IMPACT AND ECONOMIC TREND
WITH EMPHASIS TO EXPORT
• India is the second largest producer of fruits after Brazil.
• The total production of fruits in the world is around 370
million MT.
• India ranks first in the world with an annual output of 32
million MT. While there are almost 180 families of fruits that
are grown all over the world, citrus fruits constitute around
20% of world’s total fruit production.
• India with its current production of around 32 million MT
accounts for about 8% of the world’s fruit production.
• The major fruits for export are mango, banana, citrus fruits,
apple, guava, papaya, pineapple and grapes. The diverse
agroclimatic zones of the country makes it possible to grow
almost all varieties of fruits and vegetables in India.
• The fruit production in India has recorded a growth rate of
3.9%, whereas the fruit processing sector has grown at about
20% per annum.
• However, the growth rates have been extensively higher for
frozen fruits & vegetables (121%).
• Mango production accounts for an estimated 38 percent of
total tropical fruit output in 2002, two percent higher than
the most recent estimates, again due to increased production
in China and India which offset declines in mango output in
Mexico.
• Area dedicated to mango production continues to steadily
increase in recent years in India, covering an estimated 39
percent of all agricultural area dedicated to fruit crops.
Pineapple production is estimated at 14.4 million tonnes 13.7
million tonnes for 2001, or 21 percent of global output, with
papaya and avocado production estimated to reach 8.9 and
2.6 million tonnes, respectively.
• India has 1655 lakh ha of land and a operational holding of
agricultural farming is about 153 lakh ha is under horticulture
and yields about 142 million tonnes of fruits and vegetables.
India ranks first in the production of mango, banana, sapota
and acid limes in the world.
• It is among the first 10 in the production of apples, papaya,
oranges, grapes and pineapples. The five fruits namely
Mango, Banana, Citrus, Guava and Apple account for 75% of
the total fruit
• Although India is the largest producer of fruits in the world,
the production per capital is only about 100 gms per day.
However, it is estimated that more than 20-22% of the total
production of fruits is lost due to spoilage at various post
harvest stages. Thus the per capita availability of fruits is
further reduced to around 80 gms per day which is almost
half the requirement for a balanced diet.
• Area and production of fruits

Year Area (Lakh ha) Production (lakh

Mt)
*1998-99 37.40 440.40
1999-2000 38.00 450.00
2000-2001 39.40 498.00
• India’s Export of Fresh Fruits (Quantity : MT, Value : Rs. Lakhs )
Crop 2001-02
quantity Value
Banana 8100.00 1583.94
Dates 1583.94 16.50
Fig 633.00 49.04
Pineapple 837.00 159.97
Guava 890.00 172.30
Mango 44429 8099.13
Citrus 33171 3915.20
Grapes 14694 6043.22
Papaya 1976 286.89
Apples 19296 1339.29
Pear & quinces 13 1.66
Cherries and apricots 133 39.07
Strawberry 118 12.74
Pomegranate 4774 1041.85
• India’s Export of Fresh Fruits (Quantity : MT, Value : Rs. Lakhs )
Crop 2001-02
quantity Value
Sapota 1150 214.47
Custard apple 170.93 29.80
• State wise area and production of fruits in india (area in lakh
ha, output in lakh mt)

Position State 1998-99

Area Out put
1 Andhra pradesh 3.79 5.90
2 Arunachal pradesh 0.30 0.92
3 Assam 1.05 12.50
4 Bihar 3.04 7.97
22 Tamil Nadu 2.14 54.48