The production of many vegetables and condiments has either remained static for some years or recorded a modest decline. That is why domestic prices continue to rise and, now export volumes have also started falling.

Except for potatoes and tomatoes, the cultivated area under most veggies has remained static or fallen in last five years, or in some cases, the per-hectare yield has gone down.

Overall output of Kharif veggies in 2013 fell to 917,000 tonnes from 1.1m tonnes in 2009, showing a decline of about 20pc, official stats reveal. Individually, production of such widely used veggies like lady finger, squash, bottle gourds, arum, beans and field vetch slumped, data compiled by Ministry of National Food Security and Research show.

Production of tomatoes grown in winter also fell from 178,000 tonnes in 2009 to less than 143,000 tonnes in 2013. But a substantial rise in output of tomatoes grown in summer—from 383,000 tonnes to 431,000 tonnes during this period—resulted in a net increase in cumulative production of tomatoes.

Though a decline in production cannot be fully justified on the basis of a lesser area under cultivation, it does make sense because agriculture suffers from inadequate investment in farming technology

Some Rabi vegetables including carrot, cauliflower and beans also witnessed declining production between 2009 and 2013 whereas output of radish, turnip, spinach and cabbage remained static or grew modestly. A marked exception was potato whose output kept growing in all these five years, rising from 2.9m tonnes in 2009 to 3.8m tonnes in 2013.

Cumulative output of all Rabi veggies (minus potato), however, fell from 2.16m tonnes in 2009 to 2.02m tonnes in 2013.

Three things appear to have made a dent in total production of both Kharif and Rabi. First, in most cases fall in production has come along with shrinkage in the area under cultivation. For example, in the Kharif veggies group, lady finger, arum, field vetch and tomatoes grown in winter are among those vegetables whose areas under cultivation saw a decline. And in Rabi group, the area under cultivation of turnip and other veggies not specified individually shrank considerably.

Though a decline in production cannot be fully justified on the basis of lesser area under cultivation it does make sense because agriculture suffers from inadequate investment in farming technology. But a more worrisome reason for fall in veggies’ production has been falling per-hectare yields like in case of squash and bottle gourd.

For ensuring enough veggies for local consumption and obtaining growing trade surplus, the reasons for shrinkage in area under cultivation and declining per-hectare yields need to be identified.

In some cases, the farmers have switched over to other, more profit-yielding vegetables. Or they have taken up farming other veggies or pulses. Or, in some cases, they have started growing major food crops such as wheat, maize and rice.

A falling trend in production of most veggies over past five years has been the main reason for consistent rise in their local prices. Domestic prices rise when exports of some veggies shoot up in certain years. But recently export volumes of veggies have begun to fall. For example, in FY14 about 567,000 tonnes of vegetables were exported, 15pc less than 755,000 tonnes in FY13. And in five months of FY15, export volumes fell by 33pc to 121,000 tonnes from 198,000 tonnes a year-ago.

Like vegetables, average annual production of condiments, too, has either declined or remained static in the last five years, not withstanding a one-off increase in FY11 when the flood-related damage to major crops a year earlier brought larger areas under their cultivation. Average yearly output of three main condiments i.e. garlic, chilies and coriander between 2010 and 2014 remained static, slipped somewhat or recorded very nominal increase compared with the 2009’s actual production, official stats reveal.

Turmeric was the only exception whose production kept rising between 2009 and 2013 except in 2010.

So, there is a pressing need for immediate formulation and speedy implementation of a plan to boost veggies’ and condiments’ output. The Punjab government’s initiative to increase pulses’ production should serve as a good example. The provincial agricultural department has been working closely with pulses growers on hundreds of pilot farms where lentils, Mash, Masoor, Moon and Gram pulses continue to record higher per-hectare yields, officials say.

In case of vegetables, too, some success stories have come up in last few years but there is a need to ensure that a larger number of veggies growers increase per-hectare yields.

In addition to potatoes, yearly output of egg plants, bitter gourds, pumpkin, cucumber, cabbage, sweet potatoes and peas has been rising on the back of higher domestic demand due to growing awareness about their medicinal value or because of their increased usage as ingredients of salad.

Published in Dawn, Economic & Business, January 12th, 2015

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