CHAPTER - IV GROWTH OF AREA, PRODUCTION AND YIELD OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES IN PUNJAB STATE AND IN PATIALA DISTRICT

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1 CHAPTER - IV GROWTH OF AREA, PRODUCTION AND YIELD OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES IN PUNJAB STATE AND IN PATIALA DISTRICT The horticultural crops e.g. fruits and vegetables play an important role in human nutrition by preventing diseases and contributing to ones vigour and vitality. In India, the production of fruits and vegetables has showed a remarkable increase because of adoption of hybrid/high yielding varieties, proper use of fertilizers and intensive use of plant protection chemicals. Main fruits and vegetables growing states in India are J & K, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and H.P., etc. So far as Punjab is concerned, it is not a very big producer of fruits and vegetables on account of its diverse climatic conditions. However, the area under fruits and vegetables has increased in the state in the recent years. Among the different districts of Punjab, Patiala is the sixth largest producer of fruits and vegetables. The total area in the district under fruits and vegetables has increased from hectares in the year to hectares during the year and production has increased from M.T to M.T in the same period. Due to increasing awareness about the nutritional benefits of fruits and vegetables among masses, the demand of these crops is rising day by day. The study of growth trends of commercial crops has significant impact on crop production planning. The study of growth trends of area, 83

2 production and yield may be useful to farmers, administrators and policy makers to take appropriate action in time. In this chapter, an effort has been made to compile area, production and yield statistics of fruit and vegetable crops combined and separately for Punjab state, and for Patiala district for the period to Using these data, compound growth rates have been computed by using exponential function for each of area, production and yield data both at the state level and at the district level. Table 4.1 Area, Production and Yield of Fruits and Vegetables in Punjab State, to Year Area (hectares) Production (metric tonnes) Yield (kg per hectare) Source: Statistical Abstracts of Punjab, Chandigarh: Advisor to Economic and Statistical Organization, Punjab, Various Issues. 84

3 It is clear from the table 4.1 that area and production of both fruits and vegetables in Punjab increased continuously up to the year This increase in area and production of fruits and vegetables was mainly due to the establishment of Pepsi Unit at Zahura (Hoshiarpur) in the year 1989, which brought quantum jump in area under fruits in Punjab. As far as yield is concerned, it showed a marginal decrease in the year After the year , it continued to increase up to the year After the year , the yield revealed no definite pattern up to the year whereas both area and production continued to increase. This increase may also be due to the planned diversification of Indian agriculture encouraged by the government during the Eighth Five- Year Plan ( ). But, during the year , there was sudden decline in area, production and yield of both fruits and vegetables. This decline was due to problem of water logging in south-western districts of Punjab. The reason may also be that the state had to achieve Ninth Five- Year Plan ( ) target of food production. But, after the year , again an increasing trend in case of area, production and yield of fruits and vegetables was observed. Contract farming introduced in the state after the year , helped a lot to increase area as well as production of fruits and vegetables. But no significant increase was observed over time. 85

4 Table 4.2 Compound Growth Rates (C.G.R.) of Area, Production and Yield of Fruits and Vegetables in Punjab State, to Area Production Yield Log B B value C.G.R (per cent) Source: Computed from the data in table 4.1. Functional form: Log Yj =Log A+ (Log B) t + u Where, Yj denotes, Y1= Area under fruits and vegetables during t th year Y2= Production of fruits and vegetables during t th year Y3= Yield of fruits and vegetables during t th year t = time u = error term Table 4.2 indicates that for the period to , both the area and yield registered an increase of 3.60 per cent per annum and 0.91 per cent per annum respectively. As a result, the production showed an increase at the rate of 4.54 per cent per annum. Area played a significant role for this increase in the combined production of both fruits and vegetables, as 79.3 per cent of increase in the production was attributable to increase in area and residual to enhancement in the yield. The growth rate of production is sum total of growth rates of area and yield. 86

5 Table 4.3 Area, Production and Yield of Fruits and Vegetables in Patiala District, to Year Area (hectares) Production Yield (kg per hectare) (metric tonnes) Source: Statistical Abstracts of Punjab, Chandigarh: Advisor to Economic and Statistical Organization, Punjab, Various Issues. The district level analysis revealed that area under fruits and vegetables decreased sharply from the year to After this, it continued to increase up to the year But, after the year , it revealed no definite pattern up to the year From up to the year , area continued to increase with one exceptional year, i.e., when it declined. In the case of production, it increased from m.tonnes in the year to m.tonnes during the year Both area as well as yield 87

6 were found to be responsible for this type of trend. But, during the year , both production and yield declined. After this, the production increased from m.tonnes in the year to m. tonnes in the year whereas yield did not follow any systematic pattern during this period. After the year , the declining trend was observed in the production except for the year Both area and yield were found to be responsible for this decline. The production technologies of fruits and vegetables as well as uncertainties of the market were found to be responsible for this type of trend. During the years and , yield revealed a negative role whereas area played a positive role. But, for the year , area played a negative role whereas yield played a positive role. During the year , all the three variables revealed a marginal increase. Table 4.4 Compound Growth Rates (C.G.R.) of Area, Production and Yield of Fruits and Vegetables in Patiala District, to Area Production Yield Log B B value C.G.R (per cent) Source: Computed from the data in table 4.3 Functional form: Log Yj =Log A+ (Log B) t + u Where, Yj denotes, Y1= Area under fruits and vegetables during t th year Y2= Production of fruits and vegetables during t th year Y3= Yield of fruits and vegetables during t th year t = time u = error term 88

7 It has been observed from the table 4.4 that for the period to , all the three variables, i.e., area, production and yield revealed a positive increase. The production of both fruits and vegetables increased at an annual compound growth rate of 5.31 per cent. Both area and yield played a positive role for this increase in the production. However, more than two-third of this production gains were attributable to expansion in area and residual to yield enhancement. Table 4.5 Area, Production and Yield of Fruits in Punjab State, to Year Area (hectares) Production Yield (kg per hectare) (metric tonnes) Source: Statistical Abstracts of Punjab, Chandigarh: Advisor to Economic and Statistical Organization, Punjab, Various Issues. 89

8 It is clear from the data given in table 4.5 that both area as well as production of fruits in the state increased continuously up to the year As far as yield is concerned, it varied between kg per hectare to kg per hectare during the period to But, it increased sharply to kg per hectare in the year After this, it remained almost stagnant up to the year But, during the year , both area and production declined suddenly whereas yield continued to increase up to the year The major reason for decline in area as well as production was the problem of water logging in south-western districts. It may be stated here that the irrigation in south-western districts of the state is by canals. There was seepage of water from canals, which resulted in severe water logging problems in these districts. It adversely affected the soil and fruit crops. Since , again there was an increasing trend in area as well as production of fruits in Punjab, but increase in area could not reach the previous level attained during the year The reason for this slow growth was the falling returns from the fruit orchards, which is due to inadequate market infrastructure for fresh fruits in Punjab state. Lack of technological advancement, was another important reason, which led to low profit earned by fruit growers. 90

9 Table 4.6 Compound Growth Rates (C.G.R.) of Area, Production and Yield of Fruits in Punjab State, to Area Production Yield Log B B value C.G.R (per cent) Source: Computed from the data in table 4.5 Functional form: Log Yj = Log A+ (Log B) t + u Where, Yj denotes, Y1= Area under fruits during t th year Y2= Production of fruits during t th year Y3= Yield of fruits during t th year t = time u = error term From the table 4.6, it has been observed that for the period to , the area under fruits registered an increase at the rate of 0.70 per cent per annum and yield increased at the rate of 3.83 per cent per annum. As a result, production of fruits revealed a growth of 4.55 per cent per annum. Approximately, 84 per cent of this increase in production was attributed to enhancement achieved in the yield and 15 per cent was attributed to expansion in area. 91

10 Table 4.7 Area, Production and Yield of Fruits in Patiala District, to Year Area (hectares) Production (metric tonnes) Yield (kg per hectare) Source: Statistical Abstracts of Punjab, Chandigarh: Advisor to Economic and Statistical Organization, Punjab, Various Issues. The district level analysis of data revealed that the yield showed an increasing trend up to the year but then it declined continuously up to the year Total production of fruits in Patiala district increased continuously up to the year except for two or three years when it showed a declining trend. The main contributory factor was area, which showed an increasing trend. During the year , there was a significant decline in both area as well as production of fruits. The major reason for decline was that fruit 92

11 orchards trees became old and had been cut without replacement. Since the year , again there was an increase in the area as well as production of fruits in Patiala district up to the year During the year , there was sharp decline in area. As a result, production declined but yield continued to increase. Again, in the year , all the three variables increased but this increase could not match the previous level attained during the year This is mainly due to the reason that marketing system in the district lacks infrastructure (such as absence of cold storage facilities, absence of sound packaging material, etc.) for the post harvest handling of fresh produce. Small growers cannot afford to send their produce to distant markets for better returns. Table 4.8 Compound Growth Rates (C.G.R.) of Area, Production and Yield of Fruits in Patiala District, to Area Production Yield Log B B value C.G.R(per cent) Source: Computed from the data in table 4.7 Functional form: Log Yj =Log A+ (Log B) t + u Where, Yj denotes, Y1= Area under fruits during t th year Y2= Production of fruits during t th year Y3= Yield of fruits during t th year t = time u = error term 93

12 It is clear from the table 4.8 that for the period to , the production of fruits increased at the rate of 2.56 per cent per annum. But, during the same period the area under fruits diminished at the rate of 0.28 per cent per annum. Therefore, the enhancement in the yield was solely responsible for production growth, which increased at the rate of 2.85 per cent per annum. Table 4.9 Area, Production and Yield of Vegetables in Punjab State, to Year Area (hectares) Production (metric tonnes) Yield (kg per hectare) Source: Statistical Abstracts of Punjab, Chandigarh: Advisor to Economic and Statistical Organization, Punjab, Various Issues 94

13 As it is evident from the above table that both area and production of vegetables in Punjab state increased up to the year but yield declined during this period. This decline in yield was more significant in the year As a result, production also declined but area continued to increase. The reason for decline in production was that the wheat/paddy rotation had its adverse effect on the health of the soil. Due to over exploitation of groundwater, production of vegetables had fallen. For the next two years, i.e., and , both area and yield showed reverse roles, i.e., area decreased and yield increased. After the year , area showed a continuous increasing trend up to year Production also revealed an increasing trend with one or two exceptional years. So far as yield is concerned, it revealed no definite pattern due to lack of technological advancement. Table 4.10 Compound Growth Rates (C.G.R.) of Area, Production and Yield of Vegetables in Punjab State, to Area Production Yield Log B B value C.G.R(per cent) Source: Computed from the data in table 4.9 Functional form: Log Yj =Log A+ (Log B) t + u Where, Yj denotes, Y1= Area under vegetables during t th year Y2= Production of vegetables during t th year Y3= Yield of vegetables during t th year t = time u = error term 95

14 The table 4.10 stated that production of vegetables in Punjab state increased at the rate of 4.46 per cent per annum during the period to The main contributory factor for this increase in production was found to be area, which increased at the rate of 4.96 per cent per annum. The yield registered a fall at the rate of 0.50 per cent per annum. Table 4.11 Area, Production and Yield of Vegetables in Patiala District, to Year Area (hectares) Production (metric tonnes) Yield (kg per hectare) Source: Statistical Abstracts of Punjab, Chandigarh: Advisor to Economic and Statistical Organization, Punjab, Various Issues. 96

15 As it is evident from the data shown in table 4.11 that all the three variables, i.e., area, production and yield did not show any definite trend up to the year But, after the year , both area and production continued to increase up to the year with one or two exceptional years when area and production declined. Again, during the year , there was decline in production, which was due to decrease in area under vegetables in the district. The various factors like irregular rainfall, outbreak of pests and diseases were responsible for this decline. Further during the year , both area and production showed a marginal increase. So far as yield is concerned, it revealed no definite pattern throughout the period to Table 4.12 Compound Growth Rates (C.G.R.) of Area, Production and Yield of Vegetables in Patiala District, to Area Production Yield Log B B value C.G.R(per cent) Source: Computed from the data in table 4.11 Functional form: Log Yj =Log A+ (Log B) t + u Where, Yj denotes, Y1= Area under vegetables during t th year Y2= Production of vegetables during t th year Y3= Yield of vegetables during t th year t = time u = error term It is clear from the table 4.12 that production of vegetables registered a growth of 6.07 per cent per annum, which was mainly due to 97

16 increase in area, which revealed a growth of 5.26 per cent per annum. Yield also revealed a positive growth at the rate of 0.81 per cent per annum. Here, both area and yield played a positive role in the production growth performance. However, more than 85 per cent of this increase in production was attributable to expansion in area under vegetables and residual to enhancement in yield. Summing-up To sum up, the production growth performance of both fruits and vegetables taken together in Punjab state as well as in Patiala district was mainly due to changes in area rather than in yield. Further, it may be noted that land is a natural resource and fixed in its supply. Therefore, expansion of area cannot be ascertained, as land is a limiting factor of production. Hence, it is very much necessary to raise the productivity level to meet the growing demand of fruit and vegetable crops. In the case of vegetables separately, both at the state level as well as at the district level, again the production growth performance was mainly attributable to expansion in area rather than enhancement in yield. The technological advancement in the case of vegetables is not comparable to cereals particularly wheat and rice. On the other hand, in the case of fruits separately, both at the state level as well as at the district level, area showed reverse role. Here, yield was found to be mainly responsible for the production growth performance. In other 98

17 words, in the case of fruits, yield revealed a positive role due to some technological advancement in explaining the production behaviour in the state as well as in the district. Whereas in the case of vegetables, yield revealed reverse roles in explaining the production behaviour both at the state level and at the district level. At the national level and at the state level, the maximum stress is on the breeding of hi-tech and environmental resistant varieties of cereals, pulses, and cotton, etc. with very little emphasis on breeding of vegetable and fruit crops. Due to perishable nature and lack of long time storage, there is a need of developing transgenic varieties with staggered production. Along with it, proper marketing infrastructure and adequate price policy is equally important. On the basis of these findings, it may be inferred that there is a need to increase yield of both vegetables as well as fruits crops as cultivation of these crops has good potential and can be economically viable alternative to the existing crop cultivation in Punjab state as well as in Patiala district. ******************************************************** 99