The union agriculture ministry has targeted to increase the country's fruit and vegetable output by 46 per cent to 300 million tonnes in next two years.
In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Food and Agriculture K V Thomas said, “The government has envisaged to increase the production of horticultural crops, which include fruits and vegetables, to 300 million tonnes by the end of the year 2011-12.”
In 2009-10, the country’s combined fruit and vegetable output stood at 205.37 million tonnes, he said.
The data furnished in the reply also showed that during the last three years the combined production and acreage of fruits and vegetables does not indicate a decline.
Fruits and vegetables output in 2009-10 was four per cent higher than in 2008-09, when it stood at 197.53 million tonnes, the data showed.