Market-linked horticulture key to raising farmers’ incomes

Tirupati: The Global Horticulture Hub aims to transform horticulture from production-driven farming into a market-linked, value-based ecosystem. In an exclusive interview with ‘The Hans India’, Annamayya District Collector

Nishant Kumar explains how the initiative, through integrated water management, farmer collectives, post-harvest infrastructure, processing and organised markets, seeks to reduce risks, improve value realisation, and ensure higher, sustainable incomes for farmers.

What will be Annamayya district’s specific role in the Global Horticulture Hub? What are the key projects?

Annamayya will be developed as an integrated hub for production, processing, and marketing of high-value horticulture crops. The focus is on the entire value chain—from quality planting material and cultivation to post-harvest management, processing, and consumer markets. The aim is to transform the district from a major producer into a globally competitive horticulture hub.

How will small and marginal farmers benefit?

Farmers will be supported through area expansion, micro-irrigation, quality planting material, demonstrations, technical guidance, mechanisation, and organised market linkages. Cluster-based development through farmer producer organisations (FPOs) and farmer groups will help small farmers access facilities they cannot afford individually. Assistance will cover new plantations, micro-irrigation, protected cultivation, water conservation, post-harvest management, value addition, and processing.

How will farmers manage the 3–5 year gestation period of fruit crops?

Farmers cannot wait for three to five years for income. During the juvenile period of orchards, they will be encouraged to grow compatible intercrops, border crops, vegetables, flowers and other short-duration crops. This will provide interim income while creating long-term returns from fruit orchards, which generally start yielding from the third year.

What is the single biggest intervention that can change farmers’ fortunes?

Increasing production alone will not raise farm incomes. The key is to link production with value addition and markets. Aggregation, grading, packhouses, cold chains, processing and organised markets will allow farmers to sell different grades to different markets, instead of disposing of the entire produce at distress prices. The shift must be from “Production-oriented horticulture to market-linked horticulture.”

What is the biggest implementation challenge, and when will it be addressed?

The biggest challenge is developing production, water security, and market infrastructure simultaneously. More area without assured water creates production risk, while higher production without markets and processing creates price risk. Therefore, farm ponds, micro-irrigation, crop planning, FPOs, collection centres, grading, cold chains, and processing must progress together. Phase I to Phase III, from 2026–27 to 2028–29, will focus on establishing and stabilising this ecosystem.

What transformation do you expect by July 2029?

We expect expanded horticulture, higher productivity and quality, efficient water use, stronger FPOs, functional collection and grading centres, packhouses, cold-chain and processing facilities, lower post-harvest losses, and stronger market linkages. Ultimately, success will be measured not by acres added or tonnes produced, but by the additional, stable and sustainable net income reaching farmers. Our vision for Annamayya is: “More crop per drop – more value per crop – more income per farmer.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Pradeep Vennelakanti

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