Impact of Urban Areas on Cropping Pattern of Horticulture in Haryana (India)
Impact of Urban Areas on Cropping Pattern of Horticulture in Haryana (India)
Ms. Neeru Gehlot
Research Scholar,
Department of Geography,
Panjab University, Chandigarh (India).
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Abstract
The paper analyses the changes in production and area under major horticultural crops. Due to the high demand of fresh vegetables and fruits in Delhi and Chandigarh the cropping pattern of surrounding districts in Haryana has greatly changed to horticultural crops. It has developed rural economy to a great extent by increasing land prices and reducing farm size.
INTRODUCTION
Urban agriculture is growing of plants and raising of animals within and around the cities. It is the practice of cultivating, processing and distributing food in or around a village, town or city. Urban agriculture is integrated into the urban economy and ecological system that distinguishes it from the rural agriculture. It involves animal husbandry, aquaculture, agro-forestry and horticulture. Urban agriculture may take place in intra-urban or peri-urban areas. The study is done for peri-urban areas.The paper focuses on Horticulture asitis a tremendous industry composed of numerous commercial enterprises and even more numerous home gardens, orchards, lawns and ornamental planting.
Urban agriculture is an integral part of urban system and it increases when the city grows because of the increased demand and more economic benefits. As the population in urban centres is increasing it is highly affecting the agriculture of surrounding areas. Due to the high demand of fresh vegetables and fruits in Delhi and Chandigarh the cropping pattern of districts in Haryana has greatly changed to horticultural crops as there is increase in area and production of horticultural crops.
There is heavy reliance of population on agriculture and challenging the food problems. Horticulture activity is important to all of us as a source of food, around forty percent of the food we consume is raised by horticulturalists. Millions of people are engaged in horticulture on a full-time, part-time, leisure-time or amateur basis, thus affecting all. A full understanding of some horticultural problems may involve detailed research.
OBJECTIVE
The present study will cover the different aspects such as patterns and trends, production clusters and quality and varietal issues of horticulture in Haryana state of India. An emphasis will be laid on some influencing factors for promoting Horticulture in Haryana.
STUDY AREA
Haryana state is situated between 27° 39’ to 30° 56’ North latitude and 74° 27’ to 77° 36’ East longitude and comprises 21 districts.The study will be done for all districts of Haryana state with special focus to Ambala, Yamunanagar, Panipat, Gurgaon, Faridabad because of their location on the administrative boundaries of urban cities i.e. Delhi and Chandigarh and great development in horticulture.
METHODOLOGY
An analysis of production and area under various horticultural crops for the years 1991-92, 2000-01 and 2010-11 at district level in Haryana has been done. For the present study seven major horticultural crops (Mango, guava, citrus, peas, onion, tomato, leafy vegetables and other horticultural crops) have been selected. Karl Pearson’s coefficient of correlation method has been used to find out the relationship between the total area and total production and district wise and crop wise percentage has been calculated to find out the growth rate in area and production for the state Haryana.
The study will mainly be based on the secondary sources of data that will be collected from Haryana State Horticulture Development Agency, Panchkula, and Department of Agriculture of Haryana. The Census of India records will be used for defining urban areas. The collected data will be presented through tables and graphs.
INFLUENCING FACTORS
Favorable climate for the production of horticultural crops:The offseason production of mango is a distinguishing feature in Haryana and is also exported to Far East.
Drip irrigation has been popularized in Haryana and 3112 hectares have been covered under drip irrigation system to improve productivity, quality and maximize scare irrigation.
Proximity to urban areas - Due to the highly perishable nature of horticultural crops these are intensively grown in proximity to National Capital and major markets in urban areas as by growing vegetables throughout the season, local farmers can earn handsome gains as they provide excellent marketing.
Establishment of food-Processing Industries: The Central Warehousing Cold Chain Pvt. Ltd. (CWCCL) has announced the launch of the country’s first ever controlled atmosphere storage facility and Food Park. There are some other government and private food processing industries coming up.
Government policies and plans: four food parks are planned in the districts of Sirsa, Jind, Sonipat and Ambala and government is investing in them. Fruits and vegetables are highly perishable due to high water content so the government has proposed 21 pack houses and 9 cold stores. Israeli agricultural scientists are imparting training and providing seeds to farmers in Haryana to grow vegetables throughout the year even in the condition of water scarcity as the climatic conditions in haryana and Israel are similar.
PRODUCTION CLUSTERS:-
Mango production cluster areas Panchkula, Ambala, Yamunanagar, Karnal and Kurukshetra.
Guava production cluster areas are Gurgaon, Karnal, Hisar, Faridabad and Sonipat.
Citrus production cluster areas are Sirsa, Hisar, Ambala, Gurgaon and Fatehabad
Peas production cluster areas are Ambala, Yamunanagar, Karnal, Kurukshetra and Sonipat
Onion production cluster areas are Gurgaon, Sonipat, Panipat and Panchkula
Tomato production cluster areas are Karnal, Sonipat, Yamunanagar and Kurukshetra.
Leafy vegetation production cluster areas are Ambala, Yamunanagar, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Gurgaon and Sonipat.
Flowers production cluster areas are Faridabad, Gurgaon, Panipat, Sonipatand Panchkula.
Figure 1: Total area under fruit crops in hectares in Haryana for 1991-92, 2000-01 and 2010-11.
Figure 2: Total area under vegetable crops in hectares in Haryana for 1991-92, 2000-01 and 2010-11.
Figure 3: Total production of fruit crops in tons in Haryana for 1991-92, 20-01 and 2010-11.
Figure 4: Total production of vegetable crops in tons in Haryana for 1991-92, 2000-01 and 2010-11.
Source: Haryana State Horticulture Development Agency, Panchkula.
Haryana has 38 lakhs hectares of agriculture land out of which almost 85 per cent is under cultivation of vegetables. Urban areas have greatly affected the cropping pattern in the state. Though there is some decrease in area in surrounding districts of urban area but marvelous increase in production as proximity to urban centres provided high technology, demand and marketing. Overall there is great increase in area as demand of horticultural crops in increasing so other districts are also involving in the race. Other socio-cultural, physical and political factors also influence the cropping pattern.
Among fruits citrus has greatest increase in area and production 13962 hectares and 97416 tons respectively whereas, area under leafy vegetables and tomato has increased 28336 hectares and 22095 hectares but not the production, production has increased for 17610 tons for onions.The growth rate of area under crops is 294.6% for fruits and 506% for vegetables from 1991-92 to 2010-11.
The area and production are positively correlated. Strong positive correlation is for mango among fruits and for onion and leafy vegetables among vegetables. Mushroom has recently been introduced and the state is one of the leading states in its production.
CONCLUSION
There is major emphasis on horticultural crops in surrounding areas of Delhi and Chandigarh than other cash crops such as wheat and rice due to their great demand and highly perishable nature as suggested by Von Thunen and the government has also made many plans and schemes for the development of horticulture. Recently, the introduction of Medicinal plants with government initiatives is the major development in horticulture. It has developed rural economy to a great extent by increasing land prices and reducing farm size.
ACKNOLEDGMENT
I am heartly thankful to my family for their time to time support, friends for their help and also thankful to the faculty of geography department of Panjab university, Chandigarh for their guidance.
REFERENCES
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