As per the recent figures of Jan 2021, the horticulture sector in India is spread across cultivation, propagation, processing and marketing of vegetables, fruits, nuts, ornamental plants, flowers, spices and turf. On the global map, India is one of the leading exporters of fruits & vegetables with an export of approximate INR 38.56 billion, comprising of INR 26.35 billion worth of fruits & INR 12.21 billion of vegetables. India accounts for about 10% of the 500 MMT of total global production of fruits (excluding melons), it produced 75.8 MMT of fruits and 137.7 MMT of vegetables.
India accounts for about 15.5% of the 890 MMT of total global vegetable production. The nation is the largest producer of okra amongst vegetables & ranks second in production of potatoes (10%), Onions, Cauliflowers, Brinjal, Cabbages, etc. It is also the largest producer & consumer of cashew nuts and is the third largest producer of coconut and leads 90 coconut-producing countries of the world.
India also produces a wide variety of spices like black pepper, cardamom, ginger, garlic, turmeric, chilly and a large variety of tree and seed spices. The total production of spices was 4.0 MMT and the area covered was 2.5 million hectares.
The horticulture sector contributes around 30% of the GDP and 38% of the total exports of agricultural commodities from about 14% of area. The production of horticultural crops has surpassed the production of agricultural commodities heralding a new era in the annals of Indian horticulture. The advancement in horticulture farming also boosts the food processing industry of the nation.In addition, the global Greenhouse Horticulture Market in 2019 was approximately USD 17 Billion. The market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10% and is anticipated to reach around USD 40 Billion by 2026.