Extra 15.66 lakh hectares of land added to horticulture sector since 2014: Govt

New Delhi: Horticulture expansion has rapidly grown across the country in recent years. As per the report, an extra 15.66 lakh hectares of land have been added to the horticulture sector from 2014-15 to July 2025. The data was shared by Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Ramnath Thakur in a written reply in Lok Sabha.

The Government of India launched the National Horticulture Mission in 2014 as a sub-scheme under the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) for the rapid development of the horticulture sector in the country. Crop productivity has been boosted during the period with the use of high-quality planting materials and modern tools. Therefore, total output has increased from 12.10 tonnes/hectare in 2019-20 to 12.56 tonnes/hectare in 2024-25 (as per second advance estimates).

The government has set up 55,748 post-harvest structures such as cold storage units, pack houses, ripening chambers, reefer vans, and food processing units in the last five years. Besides this, 11,140 marketing infrastructure facilities, including vending carts, rural markets, retail outlets, and terminal markets, were also developed.

The coordination between the center and state governments has helped in boosting India’s horticulture produce due to better infrastructure and subsidies given to farmers, which has boosted their incomes.