Citation

Mehra P. International Journal of Economic Research 2017; 14(16): 175-187.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Agriculture has been one of the important sectors for the steady growth of Indian economy and our country has made impressive progress in food production to meet growing demands of our increasing population. This sector is now facing challenging problems due to land holding fragmentation, reducing soil health, lowering water table, climate change and fluctuating prices of its perishable products. Small and marginal farmers are now distressed as agriculture is risky and no more profitable leading to increasing farmers' suicide cases. Crop diversification and value addition of agricultural product are suggested to tackle these problems. This paper focusses on diversification of cropping patterns including more horticultural crops for better returns to farmers. The horticulture based diversification in agriculture will also promote sustainable development practices in agriculture sector. Northern states like U.P., Punjab and Haryana have high potential for such diversification. Important recommendations are derived in this paper for more sustainability and productivity of horticulture based diversification in Indian agriculture. © Serials Publications Pvt. Ltd.

Language: en

Keywords

Agriculture and development; Horticulture; Sustainability