India’s output of fruits and vegetables increased by 3.7 per cent to over 213 million tonnes in 2010-11 on the back of an increase in the area under cultivation, Parliament was informed on Tuesday.

The country produced 205.24 million tonnes of fruits and vegetables in the year-ago period, Minister of State for Agriculture Mr Harish Rawat said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

The total area under vegetable and fruit cultivation rose by 4 per cent to 14.84 million hectares in 2010-11 from 14.31 million hectares in the year-ago period, Mr Rawat said.

India is the world’s second-largest producer of fruits and vegetables. The country registered a 3 per cent increase in vegetable production to 137.68 million tonnes in 2010-11, compared to 133.73 million tonnes in the previous year.

Likewise, fruit production rose by 6 per cent to 75.82 million tonnes in 2010-11 from 71.51 million tonnes in the corresponding period a year ago, the minister said.

The major producers of fruits and vegetables in the country are Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Orissa, Jammu & Kashmir and Kerala, Mr Rawat added.

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