Wheat and rice lose weight in crop basket, fruits and veggies weigh more

Bananas contribute more to economy than mangies

The share of fruits and vegetables in India’s total crop output increased to 28.2 percent in 2022-23 from 24.1 percent in 2011-12. Until 2013-14, cereals had a larger share of the pie, but the trend has changed since.

Wheat and rice dominate the country’s crop output, but a Moneycontrol analysis shows that their share in basket has declined over the last decade.

In 2022-23, the two of India’s most common staples contributed 23.2 percent to the country’s total crop output in real terms, compared with 24.2 percent in 2011-12.

Going bananas over Bananas

The mango kingdom too seems to be on the wane as banana republic rules the fruit basket. The king of fruit, which commanded the highest share of the fruit output until 2021-22, is losing out to banana as the highest contributor to the nation’s crop output since 2022-23.

Banana's share at 3.1 percent has outgrown mango's 2.8 percent. While banana’s share has increased from 2 percent to 3.1 percent in a decade, mangoes have held steady at 2.8 percent.

Onions and potatoes have also seen significant gains among vegetables, with the share of tomatoes shrinking in crop output.

While onion's share went up to 1.9 percent in 2022-23 from 1.1 percent in 2011-12, potato's share rose to 2.2 percent from 1.8 percent. Tomato, on the other hand, declined to 1.5 percent from 1.7 percent earlier.

Potato, onion and tomato are the primary factors behind the simmering food inflation in the August to November period.

Love for Garlic

Among the spices, chili and garlic have scored a surge in their shares in crop output. The share of chilies in total crop output of the country went up to 1.1 percent in 2022-23 from 0.9 percent in 2011-12, while garlic’s share rose to 0.5 percent from 0.3 percent earlier.

Export Surge

A significant reason for rising output could be a surge in demand for Indian fruits from overseas markets. At $293 million in 2023-24, banana exports were nearly 15 times more than $19 million of shipments in 2011-12.

Garlic exports at $25 million were 10 times higher than in 2011-12, while chili exports were more than doubled in value from 2011-12.