Vol. 11, Special Issue 3 (2022)

Author(s):
Manashi Gogoi, Pinky Pathok and Parsha Jyoti Bharadwaz

Abstract:
Assam is regarded as the gateway to North East India, is considered as one of the richest biodiversity hotspots due to its unique geo-edaphic and agro-ecological condition. The state consists of diverse agro-climatic conditions, varied soil type and abundance of rainfall has a wide range of fruits, some of which are still grown in semi-wild or semi-domesticated conditions and only few of them have been grown as commercial crops for their economic, social and religious importance by some of the farmers in some potential area. The indigenous fruit sector has tremendous agri-business potential which play significant role in socio- economic upliftment of rural society. The present study is confined to fruit crops (Major and traditional fruits) only. The study was based on secondary sources. The data has been collected from Horticultural Statistics at a Glance, Agricultural Statistics at a Glance, Directorate of Economics and Statistics and from different published sources. The finding of the research study reviles that, out of the total value generated from pineapple, Assam contributed 18.08 per cent. Similarly, 6.12 per cent and 5.25 per cent contribution was made in the total value of output of litchi and citrus, respectively. It was found that there has been significant growth of area, production and productivity of fruits in Assam which may be due to the realization of benefits of commercialization by the farmers along with the implementation of several schemes by the Government. The finding of the research study also reviles that the area under major fruits of Assam like aonla, banana and pineapple showed increasing trend while for fruits like mandarin, sweet orange, guava, mango and papaya showed declining trend over the period from 2012-13 to 2017-18. With the present rate of growth in fruit production and population of the state, the projected demand supply gap was found to be negative indicating surplus of fruit production in the state.