Growth and Trend Analysis of major Horticulture Crops in Tamil Nadu

The growth of horticulture crops has become one of the driving forces for overall development of agricultural sector in India. With the emergence of urbanization and modernization, changes in cropping pattern from traditional to high value cash crops, especially the horticultural crops has been initiated in Indian agriculture. Horticulture is perhaps the most profitable venture of all farming activities as it provides ample employment opportunities and scope to raise the income of the farming community. It also has tremendous potential to push the overall agriculture growth to more than the targeted Four per cent. Keeping these understandings in mind, the present study estimates the growth rate and trend in district wise performance in area, production and productivity of major horticulture crops over years in Tamil Nadu. The study revealed that the growth of area, production and yield of horticulture crops was found to be statistically significant. Within the greater horticulture sector, the value of output for fruits and vegetables was found to be at the highest, accounted for 26 per cent of the total agricultural value of output. However, despite impressive output growth of horticulture, the trend in yield of fruit crops was found to be statistically insignificant.The growth of horticulture crops has become one of the driving forces for overall development of agricultural sector in India. With the emergence of urbanization and modernization, changes in cropping pattern from traditional to high value cash crops, especially the horticultural crops has been initiated in Indian agriculture. Horticulture is perhaps the most profitable venture of all farming activities as it provides ample employment opportunities and scope to raise the income of the farming community. It also has tremendous potential to push the overall agriculture growth to more than the targeted Four per cent. Keeping these understandings in mind, the present study estimates the growth rate and trend in district wise performance in area, production and productivity of major horticulture crops over years in Tamil Nadu. The study revealed that the growth of area, production and yield of horticulture crops was found to be statistically significant. Within the greater horticulture sector, the value of output for fruits and vegetables was found to be at the highest, accounted for 26 per cent of the total agricultural value of output. However, despite impressive output growth of horticulture, the trend in yield of fruit crops was found to be statistically insignificant.