Tropical and subtropical vegetables (2+1)

Problems and prospects of vegetable production in India

• Indian vegetable industry is developing in faster rate. Many aspects on the vegetable improvement and the production practices are developed still the following are limitations of vegetable farming in India.

Vegetables are highly perishable:
                 Fresh vegetables are like living organisms and as such undergo normal life processes even after harvest. They respire, loss of water occurs through transpiration and undergo chemical changes if not sold immediately after harvest. Deterioration of vegetables is also influenced considerably by temperature, atmospheric humidity and other factors. The losses in leafy vegetables and fruit vegetables are much more than in root and tuber vegetable crops. Thus, a considerable quantity of vegetables produced in our country is wasted every year.

Ignorance on nutritive value of vegetables:
                A majority of community is quite unaware about the nutritive value of different vegetable crops. Hence, inspite of available facilities for cultivation they are not giving much attention to vegetable gardening. In our country most of the population residing in villages are not educated who do not realize the importance of vegetable crop which are an important source of vitamins and minerals.

Illiteracy and lack of technical knowledge of scientific cultivation:
                 Authentic literature on vegetable cultivation is still not available to the farmers. Literature is very essential for selection of suitable varieties for different regions for different purposes, economic methods of cultivation including doses of nutrients, methods of controlling insect pests and diseases and the ways to get maximum return from these crops. At present ICAR-New Delhi, CFTRI-Mysore, State Agricultural Universities are publishing literature on vegetable crops but yet there is inadequate supply of the same to growers.

Lack of transportation facility:
                  Timely and speedy delivery of vegetables with minimum damage and deterioration enroute at the lowest cost are important aspects of transportation. Most of the Indian villages though there are proper facilities for growing vegetables, yet organized cultivation not taken place due to lack of proper transportation facilities,.

Lack of enough refrigeration and storage facilities:
                  The losses during the storage may be lesser if vegetables are stored properly under regulated conditions of temperature and humidity. In India this type of storage facility is available only in cities at higher rent. Hence a small grower cannot use it for harvested vegetables. Therefore, it could be advantageous if cold storage houses are constructed near production regions for storing the produce.
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Non availability of sufficient quantity of quality seed in time:
                 There should be proper arrangement for supplying good vegetable seeds for both early and late crops. The vegetable seed industry is largely in the hands of private agencies and few of them have adequate facilities for scientific production. As a result, the seeds available in the market are often of doubtful origin and usually give indifferent performance. National Seed Corporation, New Delhi started supply of improved and hybrid seeds of many vegetables directly and through its branches to cultivators and vegetable growers. However, still there is a great scope for evolving and standardizing new varieties of the best quality of vegetables in India.

Malpractice in marketing:
                 Marketing includes all the steps from the time the produce is ready for harvest till it is in the hands of the consumers. The main aim of marketing is that the producers should get a suitable price for their produce. At present due to more middlemen and the price meant for the produce is not received by the producer.

Problem of Insect pests, diseases and weeds:
                 Due to the tenderness of vegetables, the insect pest, disease and weed attack is more in vegetable crops than cereals/ fruit crops/forest trees.

Lack of irrigation facilities:
                 Light and frequent irrigation are very essential for vegetable growing. During summer it is not possible to grow vegetables if irrigation facilities are not available. Perennial and large season vegetables are grown if better irrigation facilities are available.

Lack of research, technical guidance and sufficient capital:
                 Before 1970, there was no co-ordinated scheme in the country but at present All India Co-ordinated Improvement Project on potato, vegetables and tuber crops are running at country level and conducting research work on important vegetable crops. Generally vegetable growers in our country have not well developed as yet and can not afford heavy expenditure in vegetable growing. Due to lack of capital they are not using better chemicals, fertilizers and labour saving equipments. Due to these facts they are not getting better yields and quality.
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