Fruits & vegetables top list of all crops in value terms, reveals NSO report

NEW DELHI: In what could be a sign of growing preference of Indian consumers, ‘fruits and vegetables’ with 28% share occupied the top position in the group of all crops in value terms in 2022-23, higher than the share of cereals (27%), shows a new statistical report, released Friday.
The report on the value of output from agriculture and allied sectors shows the output of ‘fruits and vegetables’ has increased from Rs 2,87,000 crore in 2011-12 to Rs 4,34,000 crore in 2022-23 at constant (2011-12) prices, about Rs 15,000 crore higher than that of cereals even as they constantly occupy much more acreage than the horticultural produce.
Besides ‘cereals’ and ‘fruits & vegetables’, the other segments of the crop-group include pulses, oilseeds, sugarcane, spices and medicinal plants among others occupying the remaining 45% share in terms of value.
Among the overall agriculture and allied sector, the crop-group occupies 54% share followed by livestock (31%), forestry (8%) and fishing (7%) in value of output in 2022-23. Though the crop sub-sector remains the largest contributor of gross value of output (GVO) of the agriculture and allied sectors, its contribution has gradually declined from 62% in 2011-12 to 54% in 2022-23.
According to the report, brought out by National Statistical Office (NSO), Uttar Pradesh reported the highest value of output of cereals whereas highest value of output of fruits and vegetables was in West Bengal in 2022-23.
The report also shows that Gram and Arhar (lentil) together accounted for nearly 59% of the output of ‘pulses’ group of crops.