IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nwe/eajour/y2025i4p1275-1289.html

Diversification within Fruits and Vegetable Crops: An Inter-District Analysis from Punjab State of India

Author

Listed:
  • Pooja Choudhary

    (Department of Economics, ICFAI School of Social Sciences, IFHE Hyderabad, Telangana, India)

  • Neeraj Kumar

    (Department of Economics, ICFAI School of Social Sciences, IFHE Hyderabad, Telangana, India)

Abstract

India’s geography and diversified agroclimatic conditions make it ideal for producing various horticultural crops. India needs to catch up to China regarding fruit and vegetable production. Horticulture accounts for more than a third of all agricultural output. Like the rest of the country, Punjab places a high value on horticultural development. In this context, the current research focuses on the expansion and diversity of fruits and vegetable crops at the district level in Punjab. The study’s scope is confined to fruits and vegetable crops grown at the district level in Punjab for two periods, 2004-05 and 2018- 19. The Herfindahl index (HI) has been used to calculate the degree of diversity based on the area under various horticulture crops in a given location at a given time. In the case of fruits, the study found that the production of almost all crops has increased. However, productivity for vegetables has decreased for some crops. Ludhiana district had the most diversification, with an H-Index of 0.188, followed by Nawashahar and Patiala districts, with H-Indexes of 0.189 and 0.192, respectively. Ferozpur district, on the other hand, has a high level of specialism, with an H-Index of 0.600, followed by Muktsar and Hoshiarpur districts, with H-Indexes of 0.476 and 0.420, respectively. Overall, horticulture in the state exhibits a high level of diversification. However, farmers should be taught about the new cultivation measures and ensure that the prices of their produce are appropriate to raise the overall income of the farming community and make agriculture sustainable.

Suggested Citation

  • Pooja Choudhary & Neeraj Kumar, 2025. "Diversification within Fruits and Vegetable Crops: An Inter-District Analysis from Punjab State of India," Economic Alternatives, University of National and World Economy, Sofia, Bulgaria, issue 4, pages 1275-1289, Desember.
    • Handle: RePEc:nwe:eajour:y:2025:i:4:p:1275-1289
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.unwe.bg/doi/eajournal/2025.4/EA.2025.4.15.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Singh, Mahendra, 2008. "Structural Changes in Horticulture Sector in India: Retrospect and Prospect for XIth Five Year Plan," Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, vol. 63(3), pages 1-17.
    2. Subrahmanyam, K.V., 1998. "Horticulture in India: Organisation of Production, Marketing and Processing," Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, vol. 53(01), March.
    3. Kumar, S. & Gupta, S., 2015. "Crop Diversification towards High-value Crops in India: A State Level Empirical Analysis," Agricultural Economics Research Review, Agricultural Economics Research Association (India), vol. 28(2).
    4. Surabhi Mittal, 2007. "Can Horticulture be a Success Story for India?," Working Papers id:1159, eSocialSciences.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Poonam Rani & Ajeet Kumar Sahoo, 2023. "Assessment of Productivity and Crop Diversification Pattern in Punjab Agriculture," Arthaniti: Journal of Economic Theory and Practice, , vol. 22(2), pages 251-270, December.
    2. Srinivasulu Rajendran, 2014. "Technical Efficiency of Fruit and Vegetable Producers in Tamil Nadu, India: A Stochastic Frontier Approach," Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development, Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), vol. 11(1), pages 77-93, June.
    3. Bagchi, Niladri Sekhar & Mishra, Pulak & Behera, Bhagirath, 2021. "Value chain development for linking land-constrained farmers to markets: Experience from two selected villages of West Bengal, India," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    4. Vijay Paul Sharma & Dinesh Jain, 2011. "High-Value Agriculture in India: Past Trends and Future Prospects," Working Papers id:4374, eSocialSciences.
    5. Komol Singha & Rohi Choudhary & Kedar Vishnu, 2014. "Growth and Diversification of Horticulture Crops in Karnataka," SAGE Open, , vol. 4(3), pages 21582440145, September.
    6. Pavneet Kaur & Naresh Singla, 2016. "Contract Farming In India: Models And Impacts," Working papers 2016-06-11, Voice of Research.
    7. Saxena, R. & Naveen, P. & Balaji, S.J. & Ahuja, Usha R. & Joshi, Deepika, 2017. "Strategy for Doubling Income of Farmers in India," Policy Papers 345003, ICAR National Institute of Agricultural Economics and Policy Research (NIAP).
    8. Sinha, Piyush Kumar & Thomas, Sujo, 2012. "Organized Retailing of Horticultural Commodities," IIMA Working Papers WP2012-12-03, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Research and Publication Department.
    9. Sharma, Vijay Paul & Jain, Dinesh, 2011. "High-Value Agriculture in India: Past Trends and Future Prospects," IIMA Working Papers WP2011-07-02, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Research and Publication Department.
    10. Mysore, Sudha, 2008. "Rapporteur’s Report on Triggering Agricultural Development through Horticultural Crops," Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, vol. 63(3), pages 1-17.
    11. Richard Ackermann, 2012. "New Directions for Water Management in Indian Agriculture," Global Journal of Emerging Market Economies, Emerging Markets Forum, vol. 4(2), pages 227-288, May.
    12. Caroline Katharina Stiller & Silvia Konstanze Ellen Golembiewski & Monika Golembiewski & Srikanta Mondal & Hans-Konrad Biesalski & Veronika Scherbaum, 2020. "Prevalence of Undernutrition and Anemia among Santal Adivasi Children, Birbhum District, West Bengal, India," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-32, January.
    13. Vaghasiya, Vishal & Mishra, Snehal & Bhatiya, Montu & Gondaliya, Sahil & Venkat, Naveen & Zalavadiya, Denish, 2022. "Banana Supply Chain: A Case Study of Vadodara City of Gujarat," Asian Journal of Agricultural Extension, Economics & Sociology, Asian Journal of Agricultural Extension, Economics & Sociology, vol. 40(12), pages 1-5.
    14. Sukhpal Singh, 2013. "South Asian Agrifood Trade Networks in India: A Case Study of Onion Exports," Millennial Asia, , vol. 4(2), pages 159-184, October.
    15. Sen, Biswajit & Venkatesh, P. & Jha, Girish K. & Singh, D.R. & Suresh A., 2017. "Agricultural Diversification and its Impact on Farm Income: A Case Study of Bihar," Agricultural Economics Research Review, Agricultural Economics Research Association (India), vol. 30(Conferenc).
    16. Pardeep Singh & Pradipkumar Adhale & Amit Guleria & Priya Brata Bhoi & Akash Kumar Bhoi & Manlio Bacco & Paolo Barsocchi, 2022. "Crop Diversification in South Asia: A Panel Regression Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-16, July.
    17. Saripalle, Madhuri, 2019. "Market awareness and profitability: case study of Mango production in Karnataka, India," MPRA Paper 95334, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. repec:ags:icar24:345003 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Dinamani Biswal & Chandra Sekhar Bahinipati, 2025. "Farmers’ preference for crop-diversification in India: does crop-insurance play a part?," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 1-33, March.
    20. Osama Ahmed & Walid Sallam, 2020. "Assessing the Potential of Improving Livelihoods and Creating Sustainable Socio-Economic Circumstances for Rural Communities in Upper Egypt," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-23, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • Q10 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - General
    • Q19 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Other
    • Q20 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nwe:eajour:y:2025:i:4:p:1275-1289. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Vanya Lazarova (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/unweebg.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.