fruits, vegetables, spices, flowers, and aromatic & medicinal plants unlike plains, where only a few crops can be grown. This assumes added significance in the wake of present status of Agriculture being equated at par with industry for export of these crops.

The scope and potential for the export of “unique” farm produce has been known since long. However, not much has been done so far in the state on this front. The Chamber of Agriculture and Horticulture (CAH) is slated to gear up to harness the export oriented commercial potential of the state by formulating and implementing programmes that are environmentally benign, technically appropriate, economically viable and socially acceptable in making Himachal Pradesh as a leading state in farmbusiness.
The CAH has patronage of eminent and distinguished personalities of the state and has roped in specialists from fields of commerce, planning, media, specialised farming and farm scientists.

PRESENT SCENARIO

Himachal Pradesh, with a total geographical area of 5.6 million hectares, has the distinction of being regarded as a model of Hill & Mountain development. The state’s economy, like that of other states in India, is primarily agrarian and provides sustenance to about 69 percent of the population. The farm related produce had been contributing over 40 percent of the state domestic product in 1990s. Nearly 84 percent of the land holdings are small and marginal, and are highly scattered and fragmented.

Due to hilly and mountainous terrain, with only 10.3 percent of the total land is under the plough. Of this nearly 17 percent of the total gross cropped area is under the assured irrigation, most of which is through traditional kuhl system. About 88 percent of the gross cropped area is under food grains, maize and wheat accounting for between 30 to 40 percent.

Horticulture in the state enjoys prime position in respect to whole country. Different pockets have suitable climate for cultivation of high value fruits like apple, pear, peach, apricot, almond, pecannut, persimmon, kiwi, olive, grape, cherry, pomegranate, strawberry and tropical fruits like mango, citrus, litchi, spota etc. Besides exotic vegetables, floriculture, off-season vegetables, vegetable seeds, mushroom and beekeeping may form the other high-income generating activities of the state.

Himachal also enjoys distinction in cultivation of industrial trees like hops, amla, khair, chilgoza and willow etc. State is a natural repository of medicinal and aromatic plants grown in wild habitat in different climatic zones. It is able to provide 80 percent raw material to the herb based industry in the country and can earn huge profits on their export to distant lands. Medicinal plants and herbs can be grown with little efforts on marginal lands of state as a cash crops since this Himalayan state has potential of becoming world’s most suitable land for high quality herbs.

The state’s total population stands nearly at 6.08 million (2001 census). Assuming that it continues to grow at a rate of 2.13 percent per annum as recorded between 1981 and 1991, the projected population in the year 2020 will be between 9.6 to 10 million.

Also assuming that foodgrain production continues to grow at 2.11 percent per annum, the projected foodgrain production will be about 2.6 million tonnes. The state has at present a deficit of 0.15 to 0.2 million tonnes in food grains. The demand for foodgrain production grows at the rate of 2.6 percent as a result of presumed growth rate of 7.0 percent in national income, the required foodgrain production in the year 2020 will stand at 3.3 million tonnes. Thus the gap between the expected foodgrain production and required foodgrains will be about 0.7 million tonnes. It is, indeed, a challenging task for policy makers to achieve this target and bridge the hiatus between required and expected foodgrain production from rapidly degrading land, water and biotic resources.

The farm development profile of the state has four distinct farming patterns:

i) Pockets of cereal based irrigated farming like Balh valley in Mandi district, areas bordering Punjab in Una, Kangra, Solan and Sirmour district and also other areas like that of Baijnath to Shahpur in Kangra valley
ii) Off-season vegetable dominated areas in Solan, Shimla, Kullu, Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti districts.
iii) Horticulture dominated activity in Kullu, Shimla, Kinnaur, Chamba and Kangra districts.
iv) Cereal dominated rainfed Agriculture encompassing areas covering about 60-70 percent of the total cultivated land. Maize-wheat is the predominant cropping system in rainfed agriculture on sloppy lands. In more recent times, these areas are punctuated by the introduction of oilseeds. Thanks to the availability of short duration varieties.

Himachal Pradesh is vested with unique potentialities for growing of all kinds of fruits ranging from sub-tropical to temperate fruits, flowers, mushroom, medicinal plants, besides honey production because of varying agro-climatic conditions. As a consequence, pattern from traditional out put system to ”low volume- high value” cash crop production system is visible in the state during the last four decades. The state has witnessed a tremendous increase in area and production of these horticultural crops. The temperate fruits occupy an area of about 1, 12, 922 ha with an annual production of 2,97, 735 tonnes. However, the productivity of fruits per unit area is still low as compared to the other advanced countries, which can primarily be attributed to varying soil conditions, lack of irrigation, improved varieties and technologies. Inadequate post harvest management and lack of regulated markets, further add the poor returns to the growers. Thousands tonnes of fruits, which are not marketed go waste on account of lack of knowledge for their proper utilisation and in the absence of assured markets.

STRENGTHS

Himachal Pradesh provides a bewildering array of soils, climate and vegetation. The elevation varies from 350 to 6800 metres above mean sea level. Because of varied altitude, the state is endowed with diverse agro - climatic conditions ranging from sub-tropical to temperate and even cold deserts. This results in a great variety of niches that are conducive for growing a wide variety of cereals, fruits, vegetables, flowers and aromatic and medicinal plants.

WEAKNESSES

While mountainous landscape of the state bestows upon it a myriad of niches, it also imposes formidable constraints in harnessing them. These constraints get reflected in the lack of both physical and man-made facilities e.g. because of inaccessibility, there is lack of infrastructure like adequate and efficient transport facilities which stand in the way of diffusion of latest technology as well as efficient marketing of high value cash crops, particularly high value - high volume-highly perishable crops.

PERSPECTIVE & STRATEGIES

Changing economic environment both at the National and International level need to be evaluated and future path chartered. While our achievements are indeed satisfying, there is no room for complacency. Population growth is yet not showing any sign of abatement. The problem has got compounded with a huge livestock population of low productivity, which competes for limited natural resources. If past experience is any indication, the problem of degradation of natural resources is bound to become more severe in the years to come unless new approaches are evolved and the existing ones modified. On the positive side, new opportunities for growing and exporting non-conventional crops have emerged for which the state has tremendous potential.

The CAH with its Research & Development wing is slated to achieve the goals of export oriented farming in the state, having the following aims and objectives:

a. To promote cultivation of value added farming.
b. To help establishing agribusiness in a professional manner to attract market in distant lands.
c. To work for the fast growth of food processing industry in the state.
d. To encourage and promote development of Horticulture industry in the state.
e. To assist and develop infrastructure for post harvest technology, marketing and processing of the farm produce.
f. To provide assistance in formulating potent state policy on Agriculture and Horticulture.
g. To help create environment for establishment of agro-based industry in the state by NRls.
h. To generate awareness among farmers for the cultivation of cash crops like spices, herbs, oil seeds and industrial plants.
i. To promote consumption of fruits & vegetables in fresh and processed form.