Growth and Variability of Major Horticultural Crops of Jammu and Kashmir

Abstract

The paper presents comprehensive trend analysis in terms of production, area and productivity of major horticultural crops of Jammu and Kashmir, India. Secondary data was collected from Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Department of Horticulture and Planning, Jammu and Kashmir and Jammu and Kashmir, Statistical Office. Using Compound Annual Growth Rate and Cuddy-Della-Valle index, the sustainability of the major horticultural crops was analysed. It was found that apple is the most stable crop in terms of both growth as well as variability. Almond suffers with highest instability in all the three parameters. Cherry too faces low growth and high instability in the last thirty years as such it has lower acceptability with the farmers. Walnut on the other hand, suffers from high fluctuation in growth rate in all the three parameters and as such suffers moderate instability. Overall, the horticultural crops in Jammu and Kashmir are strongly established and provide significant amount to the Gross State Domestic Product. And among these crops, apple and walnut contribute 80 percent to the horticultural output value in the erstwhile state. The government, therefore needs to provide better incentives to the farmers for these crops and alongwith it, address the challenges that the farmers face with respect to other crops.