Horticulture & Seeds

Central support for horticulture predates 2014: the Horticulture Mission for North East & Himalayan States began in 2001-02 and the National Horticulture Mission in 2005-06. From 2014-15 both became part of the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), a Centrally Sponsored Scheme. Horticulture production was 2,773.52 lakh tonnes in 2013-14 and passed 3,000 lakh tonnes in 2016-17, at 3,006.43 lakh tonnes. By the second advance estimates for 2022-23 it stood at 351.92 million tonnes, above that year's foodgrain production of 329.69 million tonnes.

On 9 August 2024 the Union Cabinet approved the Clean Plant Programme, first announced in the Budget Speech of February 2023, with an outlay of ₹1,765.67 crore. It provides for nine Clean Plant Centres for crops including grapes, citrus, mango, pomegranate and temperate fruits, and a certification system backed by a regulatory framework under the Seeds Act, 1966. The Asian Development Bank had approved a $98 million loan for the programme in December 2023, and the loan was signed on 29 November 2024. On 11 August 2024, the Prime Minister released 109 high-yielding, climate-resilient and biofortified varieties of 61 crops, 40 of them horticultural.

MIDH is implemented through State Governments, with assistance for nurseries and tissue culture units, new orchards and the rejuvenation of old ones, protected cultivation, organic farming, beekeeping, mechanisation and post-harvest infrastructure. In the five years up to July 2025, 55,748 post-harvest management units, such as cold storages and pack houses, and 11,140 marketing facilities were set up under it. The Clean Plant Programme is implemented by the National Horticulture Board with ICAR, and modern nurseries receive ₹3 crore (large) or ₹1.5 crore (medium) to supply 8 crore disease-free seedlings a year. New varieties come from the National Agricultural Research System, which developed 2,900 field-crop varieties in 2014-2024, 2,661 of them tolerant to one or more biotic or abiotic stresses.

The final estimates for 2024-25 put production at 3,707.38 lakh tonnes, 4.51% above 2023-24, and the first advance estimate for 2025-26 is 3,708.46 lakh tonnes. As of September 2025, bidding for the design of India's first Clean Plant Centre was under way. A draft Seeds Bill, 2025, to replace the Seeds Act, 1966 and the Seeds (Control) Order, 1983, was published for comment on 13 November 2025; it proposes compulsory registration of varieties sold, seed producers, dealers and nurseries, and does not apply to farmers' and traditional varieties. On 16 January 2026 the Agriculture Minister said the proposed law would bring QR-code traceability and fines of up to ₹30 lakh, against ₹500 earlier, with imprisonment of up to three years for deliberate offences. No Seeds Bill had been introduced in Parliament by the end of the Monsoon Session on 13 August 2026; in a Lok Sabha reply of 21 July 2026 the Government said seed quality is regulated under the Seeds Act, 1966.

2,773.52 → 3,707.38 lakh tonnes horticulture production (2013-14 → 2024-25, final). 301.36 lakh ha under horticulture crops (2024-25). 15.66 lakh ha of additional area under MIDH (2014-15 to July 2025). ₹1,765.67 crore Clean Plant Programme with 9 Clean Plant Centres. 109 varieties released on 11 Aug 2024; 2,900 field-crop varieties developed in 2014-2024. Sources: Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare via PIB; ICAR via PIB.