Horticulture in Maharashtra
Maharashtra is the third largest producer of horticultrure crops in the country. State produces about 24.27 m. MT of horticultural produce from an area of 2.65 m. ha., accounting for 8.8% of horticulture production in the country. The state has emerged as a leader in fruit production in the country overtaking Tamil Nadu. Major share of production is from fruits (55.5 %), the main fruits being sapota, banana, citrus, and grape. Other fruits grown are mango, pomegranate and guava. The vegetable produce forms about 41.9 % of the horticultural production in the State. Maharashtra is also a leading producer of grapes, Sapota, pomegranate, onions and cashew.
- During 2013-14, 8.96 lakh MT of fruits have been traded in organized markets with average price of Rs. 24.68/Kg.
- Similarly, 53.05 lakh MT of vegetable have been traded in organized markets with average price of Rs. 17.73/ Kg.
FRUITS
Banana
- Maharashtra is the second largest producer of banana after Tamil Nadu in the country and contributes 16.3% of banana to the total production of banana.
- State produces about 4.8 m MT of banana from an area of 0.08 m ha. with a productivity of 58.2 t/ha.
- The cultivation is concentrated in the Jalgaon, Nanded, Parbhani and Grand Naine throughout Maharashtra regions of the State.
- Banana cultivars grown in the State are Dwarf Cavendish, Red Banana and Robusta.
- During 2013-14, 0.30 lakh MT of banana have been traded in organized markets with average price of Rs. 7.74/ Kg.
Citrus
- Maharashtra is a second largest producer of citrus and contributes 15.8% of citrus to the total production of citrus in the country.
- State produces 1.76 m MT of citrus from an area of 0.28 m ha having productivity of 6.4 MT/ha.
- Maharashtra produces 11% of total production of lime/lemon in the country and is the fourth largest producer in the country.
- State produces 0.31 m MT of lime/lemon from an area of 0.045 m ha with productivity of 6.8 MT/ha.
- The major lime producing belts in the State are Akola, Ahmednagar and Solapur.
- Recommended varities of lime in the State are Kagzi Lime, Pramalini, Vikram, Jai Devi, Sai Sharbati, Phule Sharbati and Seedless lime.
- Maharashtra is the third largest producer of mosambi and contributes 18% to the total production of mosambi in the country.
- State produces 0.71 m MT of mosambi from an area of 0.10 m ha with productivity of 7.5 MT/ha.
- Major mosambi producing belts in the state are Aurangabad, Parbani, Nanded, Beed and Jalna.
- The varieties of mosambi viz Mosambi, Blood Red Malta, Valencia have been recommended for the state.
- State is producing about 22% of total production of mandarin orange in the country.
- State produces 0.74 m MT of mandarin orange from an area of 0.14 m ha with productivity of 5.5 MT/ha.
- The major orange producing belt is in the Vidharbha region of the State covering the Districts of Nagpur, Akola, Amravati, Wardha, Yestmal, Buldana and Washim.
- The main variety grown is Nagpur mandarin and Kinnow.
- The National Research Centre for Citrus, located at Nagpur has been providing technological back up.
- Phytophotohora is a serious concern for improvement in productivity and citrus decline.
- During 2013-14, 2.90 lakh MT of citrus have been traded in organized markets with average price of Rs. 21.02/ Kg.
Grapes
- Maharashtra is the leader in production of grapes, producing about 83.5% of total production of grapes in the country.
- Grape is being grown in an area of 0.09 m. ha, mainly in Ahmednagar, Nasik, Pune, Sholapur, Sangli, Satara, Latur, Osmanabad and Buldana.
- The total production of grape is 2.16 m. MT, which is highest in the country. The productivity is 24.0 t/ha. Thompson seedless is the main variety of table grapes being cultivated. An AEZ has been established for grapes covering the Districts of Nasik, Pune, Kholapur, Satara and Sangli. Other recommended varities of grapes in the state are Sonaka, Manik Chaman, Sharad Seedless and Manjrn Naveen.
- The present strategy is to diversity into wine production. A number of wineries have come up at Sangli and adjoining areas and Maharashtra is now producing wines of international quality.
- During 2013-14, 0.31 lakh MT of grape have been traded in organized markets with average price of Rs. 28.05/ Kg.
Guava
- Maharashtra is the fourth largest producer of guava in the country and accounts for about 8.8 % of the total production of guava.
- The total production of guava in Maharashtra State is 0.32 m MT and area under cultivation is 0.04 m ha and the average productivity of guava in the State is 8.1 t/ha.
- The main guava producing Districts are Satara, Beed, Pune, Ahmednagar, Aurangabad, Amravati, Nasik, Jalgaon, Akola and Wardha.
- The varieties grown are Sardar (1-49), Lalit, Shewta, Allhabad Safeda, Arka Amulya, Kiran and Mridula.
- During 2013-14, 2260 MT of guava have been traded in organized markets with average price of Rs. 19.12/ Kg.
Mango
- With a production of 1.21 m MT from an area of 0.49 m ha., Maharashtra contributes 6.6% of mango to the total production of mango in the country.
- The major mango producing belts are Ratnagiri, Thane, Mumbai, Aurangabad Beed, Hingoli, Jalna, Latur, Nanded, Osmanabad, Parbhani, Sindhudurg and Raigarh.
- The commercial mango varieties grown are Alphonso, Kesar, Ratna, Sindu and Pairi, which are exportable varieties.
- The productivity of mangoes is 2.5 t/ha, which is quite low as compared to the national average.
- Large area under old and senile orchards is bringing down the productivity levels. Training & pruning of trees is to be taken up on a large scale.
- During 2013-14, 1.18 lakh MT of mango have been traded in organized markets with average price of Rs. 25.86/ Kg.
Papaya
- Maharashtra contributes 8.9% of papaya to the total production of papaya and is the third most papaya producing State in the country.
- State produces 0.50 m MT of papaya from an area of 0.011 ha having productivity of 45.5 MT/ha.
- Main papaya producing belts in the State are Pune, Nasik, Sholapur, Nagpur, Amravati, Ahmednagar, Jalgaon, Wardha, Yeotmal, Aurangabad, Akola and Buldana.
- Recommended varieties of papaya in the state are Co-3, Co-4, Coorg Honey Dew, Sunrise Solo, Taiwan and Pink Flesh Sweet.
Pomegranate
- Maharashtra has emerged as the leader in production of pomegranate in the country and accounts for 70.2% of total production of pomegranate.
- The major pomegranate producing belts are Solapur, Sangli, Nasik, Ahmednagar, Aurangabad, Satara, Buldana, Beed and Washim.
- The State is producing 0.95 m. MT of pomegranate from an area of 0.09 m. ha, which is the highest in the country. The productivity is 10.5 t/ha.
- The varieties being cultivated are Ganesh, Mridula, G-137 and Bhagwa, Ruby which has good export potential.
- Large scale infestation of Bacterial Blight Disease (BBD) has resulted in considerable damage to the crop during 2006-07. A package has been developed for its control in consultation with National Research Centre for Pomegranate, Sholapur which is being implemented in the affected States including Maharashtra.
- During 2013-14, 1.24 lakh MT of pomegranate have been traded in organized markets with average price of Rs. 45.76/ Kg.
Sapota
- Maharashtra is the largest producer of sapota, accounting for 27.2 % of total production of sapota in the country.
- State produces about 0.47 m MT of sapota from an area of 0.07 m ha. with productivity of 6.5 MT/ha.
- The major sapota growing belts in the State are Thane, Pune and Ahmednagar.
- Sapota cultivars in the state are Kalipati, Cricket ball, and Dhola Diwani.
- During 2013-14, 0.56 lakh MT of sapota have been traded in organized markets with average price of Rs. 16.66/ Kg.
VEGETABLES
Onion
- Maharashtra is the leader in production of onion producing about 30.0% of total production of onion in the country , involving production of 5.86 m MT from an area of 0.47 M ha having productivity of 12.5 MT/ha.
- Nasik, Ahmednagar, Pune, Satara, Osmanabad, Beed, Aurangabad, Latur and Bhandara, Solapur, Dhule and Jalgaon are the main onion growing belts in the state. There is a huge demand of onion in the export market. The state contributes about 85% of the total onion export.
- Recommended varieties of onion in the state are Pusa White Flat, Pusa White Round, Pusa Ratnar, Pusa Madhvi, Agrifound Dark Red , Light Red, NHRDF-Red, Punjab Selection, Maharashtra N-53, Baswant-780, Phule Samrath, Phule Survarna, Phule Safed, Hissar-2, Bhima Red, Bhima Super, Bhima Kiran, Bhima Shakti, Bhima Shweta and Bhima Shubra.
- With the setting up of processing industries, the demand for processable varieties, having high TSS has also increased. The Maharashtra State Agri Marketing Board along with NRC for Onion & Garlic, Rajgurunagar and NHRDF has developed technology for Onion storage, which is being promoted in the State.
- During 2013-14, 34.11 lakh MT of onion have been traded in organized markets with average price of Rs. 12.42/ Kg.
Brinjal
- Maharashtra is the seventh largest producer of brinjal and contributes 5.0% to the total production of brinjal in the country.
- The production of brinjal in the State is 0.69 m MT from an area of 0.02 m ha having productivity of 23 MT/ha.
- Cultivation of Brinjal is concentrated in Nagpur, Aurangabad, Solapur, Beed, Parbhani, Sangli, Amravati, Wardha, Nasik, Pune, Satara & Kolhapur.
- Recommended varities of brinjal in the state are Pusa Purple Long, Pusa Uttam, Pusa Bindu, Pusa Ankur, 11HR Benguluru, Arka Anand, Arka Navneeth, 11VR, Varanasikashi Sandesh, Kashi Komal, Hissar PH-4, BR-112, Hissar-Shymal Gujarat GBH-1, Anand Brinjal, Small Round-2, Pant Samrat, MPKY-Rahuri Krishna, Phule Harit and Phule Arjun.
- During 2013-14, 0.40 lakh MT of brinjal have been traded in organized markets with average price of Rs. 14.84/ Kg.
Cabbage
- The State is producing about 7.0% of the total production of cabbage in the country.
- The production of cabbage in the State is 0.64 m MT from an area of 0.03 m ha having productivity of 22.1 MT/ha.
- Cultivation of cabbage is concentrated in the region of Sangli, Nasik, Pune, Satna and Ahmedabad.
- The varieties of cabbage recommended for the state are Pusa Ageti, Pusa Drum Head and Golden Acre.
- During 2013-14, 1.02 lakh MT of cabbage have been traded in organized markets with average price of Rs. 7.14/ Kg.
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