In recent weeks, the prices of vegetables such as tomatoes and onions have more than doubled reportedly because of short supply, but the data released by the Ministry of Agriculture on Thursday show a record production of vegetables, including tomato.
The third advance estimate for 2016-17 suggests that production of fruits and vegetables has been to the tune of 300 million tonnes, an increase of 4.8% over last year.
The production of tomato, whose prices have sky-rocketed in recent weeks, is estimated to be 19.5 million tonnes, 4.3% higher than the previous year.
And the States that have seen a good yield are Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha and Gujarat.
Onion up
Onion, another politically sensitive crop, has seen a marginal increase in production at 21.7 million tonnes in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Gujarat.
However, among the horticultural crops, potato recorded the most impressive growth.
At 43.4 million tonnes, potato has seen a 11.1% over the last year in major growing States like Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Punjab, Bihar, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh.
More area covered
The area under cultivation of fruits and vegetables has marginally gone up. In 2015-16, it was 24.5 million hectares, but this year (2016-17), it has gone up to 25.1 million hectares.
Good monsoon last year ensured a record high for grain production, and the overall grain production stood at 275.68 million tonnes during the 2016-17 crop year that ended in June.
