Supply and demand for selected fruits and vegetables in Karnataka.
Chandrashekar H., Ganesamoorthi S., Nirmala K. S.
Author Affiliation: Project Planning and Monitoring Cell, Vice Chancellor's Office University of Agricultural Scineces, Bangalore 560 065 Karnataka, India.
International Journal of Farm Sciences 5 : 184-197
Abstract : Horticulture sector in India is promising a phenomenal growth and stands as largest producer of fruits and vegetables after China. Karnataka state occupies a prominent position in production and productivity of many horticultural crops and contributes 40 per cent of farm income and 17 per cent of state GDP. Price fluctuation and post-harvest losses have direct bearing on aggregate supply leading to per capita daily consumption of fruits and vegetables that is far below ICMR recommendations. This necessitates scientific projection of supply and demand for fruits and vegetables for ensuring the availability at affordable prices to the consumers and ensure remunerative price to the producers. The present study estimates the supply, demand and demand-supply gap for Karnataka state in selected fruit and vegetable crops utilizing governemnt reports and 66th round of National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) survey. The demand-supply gap analysis reveals that the demand for banana will exceed supply while the supply of mango and grapes exceeds demand. The demand and supply gap is considerably high for all the three vegetable crops. As considerable share of consumer expenditure is expected to go into high value foods it is essential to take cues from the supply-demand gaps and evolve appropriate strategies to increase production of banana and channelization towards export and value addition in mango and grapes. Further in the onion and tomato belts the supply needs to be staggered and supported with adequate storage and processing facilities.