HORTICULTURE IN INDIA – OPPORTUNITIES FOR EUROPEAN COMPANIES

HORTICULTURE IN INDIA – OPPORTUNITIES FOR EUROPEAN COMPANIES

Manoj Singh, Chandel Agritech Solutions Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, chandelagro@gmail.com

Present Status of Horticulture in India

India's diverse climate ensures availability of all varieties of fresh fruits & vegetables. It ranks second in fruits and vegetables production in the world, after China. As per National Horticulture Database 2011 published by National Horticulture Board, during 2010-11 India produced 74.878 million metric tonnes of fruits and 146.554 million metric tonnes of vegetables (Impressive 30 % rise during the last 5 years). The area under cultivation of fruits stood at 6.383 million hectares while vegetables were cultivated at 8.495 million hectares.

Growing of fruits, flowers and vegetables has received an impetus in India under the programme of the National Horticulture Mission. This has become a vital sector contributing 24% of India’s Agriculture GDP. India produces almost 11% of global vegetable output and 15% of global fruit production. It also ranks among the lowest cost producers of fruits and vegetables, However, the country’s share in international trade remains low — almost 1.7% in vegetables and 0.5% in fruits. Some of the major constraints faced by the horticulture sector in India are as follows:

·         Low productivity of most of horticulture crops

·         Low availability of latest varieties of fruits and vegetables

·         Dearth of good planting material

·         Outdated Agro practices / Lack of modern agro-technologies (including mechanization)

·         A weak post harvest management infrastructure for fruits & vegetables

Country	Horticulture products in temperature-controlled conditions (%)
India	2
China	15
Europe & North America	85

Source: Yes Bank

·         Poor Processing Capabilities: The level of processing perishable products is 6 % (China has got 30 %). The $70-billion Indian food processing industry is dominated by small and medium enterprises, which do not have the capacity to undertake large-scale processing of fruits and vegetables.

Advantage India from European Agribusiness Companies Perspective

Despite various factors that affect the horticulture sector in India, the country offers immense potential for various agribusiness companies in this sector due to:

Robust Demand

Rising urban and rural income has aided demand growth. According to the Mckinsey Global Institute, India's aggregate consumer spending will quadruple to $1.4 trillion by 2025 and the country is set to become the world's fifth largest economy in terms of consumption, up from twelfth place in 2010. India's per capita fruit consumption is one of the lowest in the world, with health becoming a key driver for urban consumers, there is a huge potential for growth of this sector.

Attractive Opportunities

With a Increase in horticulture production, there is a increase demand for agricultural inputs such as hybrid seeds/ quality planting material, fertilizers etc

Promising opportunities in storage capacities as adequate cold storage facilities are available for just about 10 per cent of India’s horticulture production.  There is a potential storage capacity expansion of 35 million tonnes under 11^th five year plan.

Foreign Direct Investment

FDI up to 100 per cent equity is permitted under the automatic route in food and  infrastructure like food parks and cold chains. There are many areas for investment in this sector which include mega food parks, agri-infrastructure, supply chain aggregation, logistics and cold chain infrastructure, fruit and vegetable products, animal products, meat and dairy, fisheries and seafood cereals, consumer foods/ready to eat foods, wine and beer, machinery/packaging.

FDI policy for agriculture was amended to allow 100 per cent FDI in agriculture sector including seeds, plantation, horticulture and cultivation of vegetables.

Organized Retail Space

The Indian retail industry has experienced high growth over the last decade with a noticeable shift towards organised retailing formats. On an average 10-15% of the total organized retail space is captured by imported food produce in India. Since the margin is better, so is the acceptance; Washington apples, Australian Kiwifruit, Swiss chocolates, French cheese, Italian wine & pastas, are no more a niche for the Indian shopper. As per 2010-11 Indian Import data (, Dairy (163 %), Wine (58 %), packaged food (45 %) and Fruits & Nuts (11%) have shown good growth.

Horticulture Sector (especially fruit sector) Specific Opportunities for European Companies  

1. Imported Fresh Fruits

With a rising and changing consumer demand, Imported fruit market is gathering steam. Imports of fruits and vegetables soared 70 percent to $1.6 billion during the last fiscal year ended in March 2012, according to the Ministry of Commerce. Fruit imports have been growing at 25 percent for the last few years, according to industry estimates and are expected to double to $464 million this year ending March 31, according to government data. The demand for imported fruits is growing not just in metros (15 % growth) but in tier two and three cities of India as well at faster growth rate (25-30 %).  

As per the data of the last 3 years, amongst the imported edible fruit segment, apple, pear, frozen fruits, nuts, provisionally preserved fruits and nuts have shown consistent growth rate (Own Analysis).

One of the report by the consulting firm Belrose Inc., mentioned that over the next decade the markets of China and India could triple their international demand for Apples. The study was carried out in 16 Asian cities and looks at the potential consumption of apples, pears, kiwi and cherries, up to the year 2020. The main conclusion is that China and India will have to resort to importing considerably large numbers of products such as apples, pears and kiwis. This surge in imports is despite the fact that India imposes a 50 percent duty on apples and 33 percent for most other fruits with a view to protect local producers. India imported 188,072 tonnes of apples in 2011-12 valued at Rs. 1,044 crore — a 44% rise in value-terms and 40% in terms of volume.

2. Farm Technologies

i) Planting Material

India is now focusing on improving the productivity of the Horticultural farms. Seeds import w.r.t. vegetables and floriculture is already taking place. For further improvement in the productivity of fruits, various farms have started importing planting material from foreign companies especially for apples, pear, peaches, plums, grapes etc. One of the Italian company “Griba” have started their business operations in India recently for Import of Apple Varieties.

i) Organic Inputs for Organic Farming

With a steady annual growth of 40% on rising population, higher disposable incomes and rising health consciousness, India's organic farming industry is set to grow to Rs 10,000 cr, according to Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM). As per the latest data of FiBL and IFOAM, India leads in the world in terms  of number of producers (1.6 million) involved in organic farming and the leading countries by area are China (1.4 million hectares) and India (0.8 million hectares). This offers immense potential for certified organic bio-fertilizers and bio-manures companies (like  CBF China Biofertilizers AG (Germany), Novozyme (Denmark)) to expand their operations in India

ii) Farm Mechanization

With an increase in commercialization of horticulture sector in India and focus on improving the farm productivity, farm mechanization has picked up the momentum.

The Govt. of India is giving a due importance to this sector. In this regard a dedicated Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization has been proposed for the XIIth Plan which includes custom-hiring facilities for agricultural machinery as one of its major components. Companies like John Deere have initiated PPP partnerships in Gujarat as part of market expansion program. European companies can make alliance with Indian machinery manufacturers for mass production of farm automation systems. There is immense scope for the following farm machineries in India:

·         Land Preparation systems – Tractors etc.

·          Harvesting machines

·         Germination Chambers

·         Sorting, Grading machines

·         Quality control equipment

·         Packaging for bulk and retail

·          Packaging for export

·          Testing and Measurement

·          Productivity enhancement through Climate control systems

As per the latest figure of ITC, 2013, there has been consistent growth for Imported Machineries used in manufacturing of wine/ fruit juices and other horticultural machineries for the last 3 years (2009-11).

iii) Cold chain infrastructure

This has occurred due to concurrent developments in the areas of state-of-the-art cold chain infrastructure and quality assurance measures. Apart from large investment pumped in by the private sector, public sector has also taken initiatives and with APEDA's assistance several Centers for Perishable Cargoes and integrated post harvest handling facilities have been set up in the country some with the help of imported equipments. The Indian cold chain sector will expand at a faster rate in the near future. The total value of India’s cold chain industry is currently estimated at USD 3 billion and reportedly growing at an annual rate of 20-25 per cent. The total value for the industry is expected to reach at USD 8 billion by 2015 through increased investments, modernization of existing facilities, and establishment of new ventures via private and government partnerships. The Indian Govt. has accorded infrastructure status to post-harvest storage, including cold chain industry in India. Some of the foreign companies have already started their businesses in this sector in India in the areas of: 

·         Pre-Cool Chambers

·          Reefer Trucks

·          Cold Storages

·          Controlled Atmosphere Storages (European Companies like Isolcell)

·          Retailing Systems

·          Food Processing machinery

·          Food Packaging machinery

3. Fruit and vegetable extracts market

Indian fruit and vegetable extracts market is set to touch $690.5 million in 2017 from $400.5 million in 2011, according to an analysis by Frost & Sullivan. Consumers’ health consciousness and inclination towards health foods would drive the growth. During the past four years, the food and vegetable extracts market has witnessed robust growth and product types have changed rapidly based on consumer preferences. Several companies, which were selling aerated beverages, have been compelled to shift to fruit juice based products, or are selling the both simultaneously, according to the analysis by Frost & Sullivan.The report also pointed out that the booming retail sector has benefited the food processing industry, including the fruit and vegetable extract market, in India. Lack of variety and insufficient infrastructure for managing agricultural waste would hit growth rate. Raw-material storage system in India is inadequate for the projected growth in production. This offers the potential for European Machine Companies to start searching for the markets in India.

4. Capacity Building

Though India has got more than 40 Agril. Univerisities where large no. of horticultural professionals are coming out every year but the practical aspects of Post Harvest Management, Marketing and International Trading is generally lacking. In this regard, European Institutions can build the capacities of the Horticultural Professionals. Like a  joint 2+2 and 3+1 cooperation programmes 4--‐year Bachelor’s programme in International Horticulture & Market Specialization and International Agribusiness & Trade Specialization between Baramati Agricultural College (India)  and Van Hall Larenstein, University of Applied Sciences (the Netherlands). More such Institutions and Companies can work together in the area of skill building.