AP emerges No 1 in fruit production

Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh made rapid strides emerging as number 1 in fruit production in the last five years, surpassing Maharashtra in horticulture, according to latest statistics from the Reserve Bank of India. AP achieved the feat by increasing productivity, despite lesser extent of area under horticulture crops compared with Maharashtra.

In paddy production, Andhra Pradesh achieved 3,540 kg per hectare paddy production during 2016-17 which is 518 kg more compared to 2014-15. This means an increase of 1,432 kg per acre which puts the state in the second place next only to the paddy-rich Punjab state. In 2015-16, Punjab registered 3,998 kg production per hectare which is 458 kg more than AP's. In a record, AP's paddy production went up by 939 kg per hectare in over two decades.

The extent of area covered under fruit production in AP was 5.45 lakh hectare in 2014-15 and it went up to 6.04 lakh hectare in 2016-17. This is 1.5 lakh hectare less compared to area of cultivation in Maharashtra but AP achieved 17 lakh tonnes more production.

AP recorded higher paddy productivity because of which the state had achieved comparatively good production though cultivation area came down. In 2014-15, AP achieved 72.33 lakh tonne production as against 74.52 lakh tonne in 2016-17. The extent of land under paddy cultivation came down by 13 per cent in last three years but the production went up by three per cent.

The state government recently introduced the Zero-Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF), with a vision to convert the entire agriculture land into this new and innovative practice. The achievements of the state government in paddy cultivation proved that there was a positive impact on the productivity by the ZBNF.