Veg production estimated to rise by 6% in 2010-11

India's vegetables production is estimated to rise by 6 per cent in 2010-11 and recent high prices of onion were mainly on the back of lower and delayed arrivals in markets caused by initial damage to the crop due to unseasonal rain, Parliament was informed today.

Vegetable production in India is estimated to touch 141.3 million tonnes in 2010-11, against 133.5 million tonnes in 2009-10, Minister of State for Agriculture Arun Yadav said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.

The minister said the recent high prices of kitchen staple onion were mainly due to lower and delayed arrivals in markets caused by initial damage to kharif crop on account of untimely rains during November and December, 2010 in some parts of major onion growing states Maharashtra. He said cultivation of all the major veggies including onion, tomato, peas, cabbage, beans and carrot, is estimated to see a rise in the current year vis-a-vis 2009-10. Onion, which had moved consumers to tears recently due to spike in prices to the level of Rs 70-85 a kg in retail, is expected to witness a rise by nearly 8 per cent in production in the current year as compared to last year.

The country is estimated to produce 13.1 million tonnes of onions in 2010-11, against 12.1 million tonnes last year, the minister said. Likewise, tomato crop is estimated to see 4 per cent growth in the current year, the minister added. India is likely to produce 12.9 million tonnes of tomato this year as compared to 12.4 million tonnes last year, he added. In reply to an another question, Yadav said post harvest losses due to transportation and due to godowns/warehouse/cold storage range from 0.1-0.2 and 0.2-0.6 per cent, respectively for selected cereals, Yadav said.

The same is 0.1-0.2 percentage for pulses and 0.4-3.1 and 0.3-2.2 percentage, respectively in selected vegetables, the minister said quoting a study carried out by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) from 2005 to 2007.

On mechanism to check prices of horticulture products, Yadav said the government has taken a number of short and medium term measures to keep their prices under control.

As short-term measures, Minimum Export Price (MEP) of onion was raised initially to $600 per tonne, which has now been brought down to $350 per tonne, he said, adding medium-term measures is to establish good post harvest management infrastructure in the country.