Horticulture: Fruit Culture (Volume V) - Instructional-Cum-Practical Manual

Abstract

Fruit culture in India has been practised from the very ancient times. Indians from the very beginning, have been the lovers of fruits and gardens. In the past, many kings and emperors patronised the cultivation of fruits in their territories. The best example is of Mughals, who helped establishment of countless mango orchards all over their empire. Over centuries, the art and science of fruit culture has been carefully nursed and fortified with new ideas and concepts, and now it has developed into a most civilized, skillful and intensive form of land utilization. Though the antiquity of fruit culture in India dates back to pre-historic times, its commercial culture started only in the beginning of this century or probably even later. Although upto-date and accurate statistics are not available, the estimated area under fruits in India is about 3.2 million hectares constituting about2 per cent of the net cultivated area in India (Singh, 1969). Likewise, the production of fruits in the country is estimated at 10 million tonnes annually. At this juncture, one can confidently point out that since the last decade, the area under fruits is under constant and rapid increase, thanks to the efforts of various States and Agricultural Universities, who have taken several effective measures to encourage fruit production on scientific lines.