India told to lift horticulture exports through stricter quality and branding
India is being urged to strengthen its global horticulture position through tighter quality standards, stronger branding, better traceability and upgraded supply chains.
India needs to strengthen its horticulture export position by focusing more sharply on product quality and branding, according to research cited by the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences. The paper argues that, in a period of geopolitical tension and supply-chain disruption, quality standards, brand credibility and control over product integrity are becoming decisive for access to international markets. Higher efficiency in the sector is therefore being presented not only as a trade goal but also as a route to improve farmer incomes and protect other actors across the value chain.
The scale of the sector makes the issue strategically important. India is the world’s second-largest producer of fruits and vegetables and accounts for around 12% of global output in each category. At the same time, horticulture contributes nearly 38% of India’s agricultural output while using only about 13% of the cropped area. That gap underlines the sector’s high value and productivity and explains why policymakers increasingly view it as a major avenue for agricultural diversification.
Government support has come through the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture, with cumulative investment of Rs 37,601 crore through 2025-26. Productivity improved from 11.7 tonnes per hectare in 2015-16 to 12.5 tonnes per hectare in 2024-25. Even so, the paper says recent growth has begun to plateau, with output gains relying more on area expansion than efficiency gains. In 2024-25 India produced 370.74 million tonnes of horticultural output from 30.14 million hectares, yet still accounts for only 1-2% of global horticulture trade.
The researchers argue that major bottlenecks lie in post-harvest systems, logistics and compliance with importing-country requirements. The paper lists weak traceability, phytosanitary issues, pesticide residue limits, limited certification awareness, differing external standards and both tariff and non-tariff barriers among the export challenges. Domestically, the sector also faces weak extension support, productivity constraints, high post-harvest losses, climate pressures, weak market linkages and price volatility.
The study says India still has underused comparative and seasonal advantages that could be converted into stronger export performance. To do that, it recommends wider adoption of advanced technologies, better post-harvest handling, stronger marketing infrastructure, more value addition and more effective use of market intelligence in both domestic and global channels. The emphasis is shifting from simply producing more to producing consistently for the specifications that international buyers actually demand.
That argument is reinforced by comments from sector leaders cited in the report. NAAS president M. L. Jat linked future agricultural growth to diversification and greater trade, while Dhanuka Agritech chairman emeritus R. G. Agarwal argued that breeding and crop management need to match export requirements such as size, colour, firmness, brix levels, residue compliance and logistics performance. In effect, the message is that India’s next horticulture push will depend less on volume alone and more on quality, traceability and the ability to preserve value all the way through the supply chain.