Gherkin and Pomegranate Cultivation

Gherkin and Pomegranate CultivationAbstractHorticulture is an important component of agriculture accountancy for a rattling significant sh atomic number 18 in the Indian economy. upgrade consumer income and changing lifestyles be creating bigger markets for soaring- foster horticultural products in India as well as end-to-end the valet. Among these, the some important blue-value merchandise products are harvest-homes and vegs. This guide was conducted to tumble the relative reinforcement and emulousness of pomegranate tree and gherkin which are the important extraneous metamorphose earner among harvest-tide and vegetable plumes tradeed from India.The primary data was collected from Tumkur and Bijapur territorial dominion of Karnataka, India and arcsecondary data was collected from concerned goernment institutions, APEDA and also from exportationingationers of fruits and vegetables. The Policy Analysis Matrix (PAM) was selected as the analytical tool to an alyse the export fight, comparative value, and the degree of government interventions in the mathematical product and export of gherkin and pomegranate. The constitution distortions were measured through indicators of PAM. Garret be technique was used to analyse the constraints in the take and export of the selected crops.EPC of Gherkin (0.5) and pomegranate (0.45) values which found to be less than one indicates that manufacturing businesss are not protect through policy interventions. Whereas DRC (0.27 0.28) and PCR (0.43 0.59) values of Gherkin and Pomegranate independently shows positive, social as well as private profit which indicates that, India has a competitive and comparative advantage in their work. The result for Garret ranking in case of gherkin shows that skilled labour and lack of superior quality are the major constraints in end product and export of gherkin respectively. In case of pomegranate non handiness of skilled labour, laid-back incidence of pest and diseases, lack of transportation facilities, high residual effect of pesticide are the major constrain in exertion and export.The boilersuit result shows that the cultivation as well as export of gherkin and pomegranate is economically profitable and efficient. learn Words Gherkin, Pomegranate, PAM, EPC and DRCList of AcronymsVariableDefinitionAPEDA sylvan and Processed Food Products exportation Development permitCIFCost Insurance and FreightCrores10 trillionDRCDomestic Resource CostEPCEffective protection CoefficientEUEuropean UnionFAOSTATFood and Agriculture Organization StatisticsFOBFree On frameFYMFarm Yard ManurehaHectaresHEIAHorticulture trade Improvement AssociationkgKilogramMHAMillion HectareMTMillion TonsNHBNational Horticulture display panelNPCINominal egis Coefficient on In dosNPCONominal Protection Coefficient on OutputsNPVNet Present valuatePAMPolicy Analysis MatrixPCRPrivate Cost proportionINRIndian RupeesUAE unite Arab Emi locatesUKUnited KingdomUNCOMTR ADEUnited Nations Commodity Trade StatisticsUNFAOUnited Nations Food and Agriculture Organization regular armyUnited States of America1. foundation1.1 BackgroundIndian agriculture is vested with the herculean righteousness of feeding over more than one billion people. Out of total, 72% of Indias population stop in rural areas, further three- 4th of the rural populations depend on agriculture and allied activities for their livelihoods. The hand over evolution in agriculture in India is hassle with problems most importantly, farming(a) suppuration slowed down to 2.1% between 1998-99 and 2004-05. It is largely cod to a decline in the feed grain orbit that grew at merely 0.6%. Given the high dependence of the poor on agriculture, the stagnation in this sector is currently threatening to stall poverty reduction in India (Reddy, 2007).Given the present scenario, the quick question to be addressed is how rude harvest can be accelerated. The question can be answered through by diversifying the spending pattern towards high value agricultural commodities in general and high value horticultural products in particular such as fruits and vegetables. In recent old age thither has been a great deal of interest among policymakers and divvy up analysts in the role of horticultural products as a principle means of agricultural diversification and foreign exchange earnings in developing countries. horticultural products have high income elasticity of demand as income goes up the demand raises rapidly. It grows especially in midsection and high income developing countries. As people are more cautious on health and nutrition, there is a paradigm shift from high fat, high cholesterol foods such as meat and live stock products to low fat and low cholesterol foods such as fruits and vegetables. As a result, the orbit has changed its attention towards high value agricultural products. Hence, it is all important(p) to be competitive in the military man market to r eap the potential differenceity gains of increased and festering mankind demand for horticultural products such as fruits and vegetables. Thus, the think of the present study attempts to evaluate the consequences of foreign trade and engagement of Indian horticulture with special reference to pomegranate and gherkin crops. In the recent past, these two crops got high export potential and earned good foreign exchange.1.2 Studies on export of fruits and vegetablesThere are many studies relate to export of horticultural crops especially fruits and vegetables from India. Chiniwar (2009) explained the numerous opportunities and challenges of the horticulture sector and observed that there is a tremendous potential for Indian pomegranates in the global market. He examined the growth of pomegranate exports from India. The study revealed that the growth of pomegranate exports from India is chasten in comparision to the potential for its exports. Tamanna et al. (1999) examined the export potential of selected fruits from India by using Nominal Protection Coefficient (NPC). The results indicate that the exports of Indian fruits are highly competitive in the terra firma market. Nalini et al. (2008) observed that India has made tremendous progress in the export of cucumber and gherkin products during the past 15 years (1990-2005). The export has increased by about 129 propagation with an impressive yearbook compound growth rate of 37.46 parcel, as against only 4.38 percent in the world market. An change magnitude and high value of Revealed Comparative good (RCA) and a positive and increasing value for Revealed Symmetric Comparative Advantage (RSCA) have indicated high potential for their export. One percent increase in hatful of international trade in cucumber and gherkin may increase the demand from India by 5.96 percent. This indicates that India is highly competitive in the export of cucumber and gherkin. It has ample orbit to further increase its e xport. Gulati et al. (1994) analyzed the export competitiveness of selected agricultural commodities and identified the constraints in the export of voguish fruits, vegetables, processed fruits and vegetables.The above studies are related to export performance, growth, and constraints of fruits and vegetables. Most of these studies focused on aspects pertaining to export of fruits and vegetables. There are no studies on export policy especially related to efficiency and comparative advantage in world market. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to analyze the export competitiveness of pomegranate and gherkin by using Policy Analysis Matrix (PAM). The study has a high scope because competitiveness has become a key issue in the international market for export development of fruits and vegetables.1.3 Research objectivesIn the present study, the export competitiveness of high value horticultural crops of India is analyzed. To be genuinely precise, the study analyzes the competit iveness of gherkin and pomegranate in the world market. It also compares the advantages and constraints in the export of these crops with the following objectives and proposed hypo thesis, which get out be tested based on the results and conclusion.Specific objectives To assess the export competitiveness of Gherkin and PomegranateTo examine the doing and export constraints of Gherkin and PomegranateHypothesis Export of gherkin and pomegranate are competitive in international markets1.4 Structure of the thesisThe study contains the results of the analysis of export competitiveness of horticultural crops in India. In the present study, opportunities are analyzed, constraints in production and export of gherkins and pomegranates from India. We further analyze the competitiveness and comparative advantage of these two crops in international market. The detailed information of this analysis is discussed in the following sections of the study.The first section of the thesis turn backs us an gateway and background on the nature of the problem, facts on the kinetics and underlying causes diversifying the consumption pattern of high value horticultural commodities. Further, a brief overview of existing studies on Indian agricultural and horticultural growth, export performance, and constraints will be discussed. The look for question is broken down into specific objectives and a possible guessing has been put forth.The second section of the thesis will give a general overview of fruit and vegetable scenario in the world as well as in India. The section also explains the importance of selected fruit and vegetable by considering production, export and foreign exchange earnings which will help us to understand the export competitiveness of these crops from India.The third section deals with methodological role model which deals with the concepts and competitiveness of high value horticultural crops from India focusing on the application of PAM model for the study. In the homogeneous chapter, the current literature and outline of the major definitions for competitiveness and comparative advantage are studied. The above proposed model will be used as a tool to address the research objectives followed by data description.Fourth section highlights the findings of the research from the proposed model using collected information on pomegranate and gherkin cultivation, and their export. Finally, the proposed hypothesis is tested and the results inferred.The final section summarizes the whole research findings and provides meaningful policy implications.2. Scenario of fruits and vegetables in India and the world2.1 World scenario of fruits and vegetables2.1.1 High value agricultural production uprise consumer income and changing lifestyles are creating bigger markets for high value agricultural products throughout the world. Among these, the most important high value export sector is horticulture, especially fruits and vegetables. The growing marke ts for these products present an opportunity for the farmers of developing countries to diversify their production out of staple grains and raise their income. Annual growth rates on the order of 8 to 10 percent in high value agricultural products is promising development (Fig.1), as the production, processing and marketing of these products create a lot of needed exercising in rural areas. The rapid growth in high value exports has been part of fundamental and broad clicking trend towards globalization of the agro food system. dietetic changes, trade reform and technical changes in the food industry have contributed to the growth of high value agriculture and trade (World Bank, 2008).2.1.2 World production of fruit and vegetablesThe production of fruit and vegetables all over the world grew by 30 percent between 1980 to 1990 and by 56 percent between 1990 to 2003. Much of this growth occurred in china where production grew up by 134 percent in 1980 and climbed to 200 percent by 1990 (UNFAO 2003). At present the world production of fruits and vegetables reached to 512 MT and 946.7MT respectively ( add-in 1 5).Vegetables China is currently the worlds largest producer of vegetables, with the production 448.9 MT with an area of 23.9 MHA (47%) ( circuit board 1), whereas India is in the 2nd position with the production of 125.8 MT with an area of 7.8 MHA (13%) followed by USA (4%), flop (3%) etc (Indian Horticulture Database, 2008) (Fig.2). Among the vegetable crops gherkin is considered for the study as it is one of the most important vegetable all over the world. plank 2 shows the international production of cucumber and gherkin from different parts of the world during 2007-08. China, Turkey, Iran, Russia and USA are the world largest producers of cucumber and gherkin ( dining table 3), whereas India position in the production is 34th but it reached 1st ( put over 3) and fifty-fifth (Table 4) position in export of provisionally hold and fresh cucumber g herkin respectively.Table 1 Major vegetables producing countries in the world (2007-08)CountryArea(000 ha)Production(000 MT)Productivity(MT/ha)China2393644898319India780312588716USA13333807529Turkey9962445425Russia9701651617Egypt5981604127Iran6411599325Italy5281358726Spain3791267633Japan4331193828Others1695722262513Total54573946774 blood Indian Horticulture Database (2008)Table 2 International production of cucumber and gherkin (2007-08)CountryProduction (MT)Share (%)China2806200062.9Turkey18759194.21Iran, Islamic republic17200003.86Russian union14100003.16USA9200002.06Ukraine7750001.74Japan6340001.42Egypt6150001.38Indonesia6000001.34Spain5100001.14Mexico5000001.12Poland4920001.10Iraq4800001.08Netherland4450001.00India1200000.27Others545202412.22 World 44610943100 artificial lake Author, FAO (2008)Table 3 Major exporting countries of fresh cucumber and gherkin (2007)Country Value (USD)Share (%)Spain55708830.13Mexico43736923.65Netherland41982422.70Canada817074.42Germany444372.40Tu rkey403002.18Greece389202.10Iran277681.50Belgium253611.37USA163130.88India2350.01Others1598158.64 World 1849137 informant Data from rude and Processed food products Export development Authority (APEDA), India.Table 4 Major exporting countries of bear on cucumber and gherkinCountry Value (USD)Share (%)India3347649.39China1675424.72Turkey41936.19Netherlands33975.01Belgium26703.94Vietnam403002.11Sri Lanka10031.48Germany9251.37Spain5960.88USA9920.87 World 65040 seed U.N COMTRADE (2007)Fruits World fruit production has steadily risen for the past four years (see Appendix 3 ). Table 5 shows the largest fresh fruit producers from different countries during 2007-08. China is the worlds largest fruit producer, producing 19 percent of the world fruits. India ranks second in the list of world producer accounting 12 percent of the worlds production followed by brazil nut, where 7 percent of the worlds fruit was boastful. (Figure 3) As production is increasing in China at alarming rate c ompare to other top producing countries. Production growth almost averaged 6 percent per year in China, while production growth in India averaged 2.73 percent per year. The EU go through the lower annual growth rate of 0.89 percent. Whereas, the production in USA and Brazil has been relatively constant over the period, with average annual growth rates of 0.61 percent for the former and 0.34 percent for the later. Other countries Mexico, South Africa and Chile have experienced slightly higher average annual production growth rates of 2.12, 2.56 and 1.3 percent respectively over the same period (FAOSTAT 2008). Among all fruits pomegranate is considered for the present study. Figure 4 shows India is the world largest producer of pomegranate with 900 MT (36%) followed by Iran (31%), Iraq (3%), USA (4%) etc. Over the years Indias export rate for pomegranate has grown steadily to worth of INR0.61 billion (US$13741) in 2007-08 with the care of 1.2 percent (Table 6).Table 5 Major fruit p roducing countries in the world (2007-08)CountryArea(000 ha)Production(000 MT)Productivity(MT/ha)China95879441810India57756350311Brazil17773681821USA11682496221Italy12461789114Spain1835152938Mexico11001504114Turkey10491239012Iran12561210210Indonesia8461161514Others228412080369Total48481512070Source FAO Indian Horticulture Database (2008)Table 6 Pomegranate export from different parts of the world (2007)Country Value (USD)Share (%)Thailand17278115.06Spain13891112.11Vietnam845327.37Mexico677395.91Netherlands638585.57Madagascar538224.69Israel452193.94Uzbekistan441283.85Colombia404593.53Azerbaijan379773.31France369753.22Germany177501.55India137411.20Others30956527.45 World 1127457100Source plain and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), India2.2 Scenario of fruits and vegetables in India.Horticulture is an important component of agriculture accounting for a very significant share in the Indian economy. It is identified as one of the potential sector for harn essing Indias competitive advantage in international trade. Further it prepares India to achieve an overall trade goat of 1% or more in the share of world trade. Meanwhile, making the country self-sufficient in the last few decades, horticulture has conform toed a very significant role in earning foreign exchange through export.Horticultural crops cover approximately 8.5 percent of total cropped area (20 MHA) (Table 7) with annual production of 207 MT, and productivity of 10.3 MT per hectare during the year 2007-08 (FAO Indian Horticulture Database 2008). Among the horticultural crops fruits and vegetables play an important role, whereas exports of fruits and vegetables have increased over the years (Table 8). During 2004-05 export of fruits and vegetables was INR 13637.13 million as against INR 24116.57 million during 2006-07 (APEDA, 2008)Table 7 Area, production and productivity of horticultural crops in India YearArea (MHA)Production (MT)Productivity (MT/ha) )2001-0216.614 5.88.82002-0316.3144.48.92003-0419.2153.3212004-0521.1170.88.12005-0618.7182.89.82006-0719.4191.89.92007-0820.1207.010.3Source FAO Indian Horticulture Database (2008)Table 8 Export of horticultural produce in IndiaProducts2004-052005-062006-07measureValueQuantityValueQuantityValueFloriculture seeds344962871426593922500487713Fresh Fruits vegetables129653013637146504016587198387324117Processed fruits vegetables32529396145018261359554994917316Total16563192612272009525341051258387491459Source APEDA, India discover Qty MT, value Million INRVegetables In vegetable production, India is near to China with a production of 125.8 million tonnes from 7.8 million hectares with a share of 13 percent in relation to world production (Table 9). The per capital consumption of vegetables is 120 grams per day (APEDA 2009). In case of Fresh vegetable Indias export has been increased from INR 433.14 Crore in 2006-07 to Rs 489.49 Crore in 2007-08. Major Export Destinations of these vegetables are UAE, UK, Nepal, and Saudi Arabia. (APEDA, 2009)Table 9 Area, production and productivity of vegetable crops in India YearArea (MHA)Production (MT)Productivity (MT/ha) )2001-0261568862214.42002-0360928481513.92003-0460828833414.52004-05674410124615.02005-06721311139915.42006-07758411501115.22007-08780312588716.1Source FAO Indian Horticulture Database (2008)Among all vegetables gherkin is considered for the present study collectable to following reasons. Indias export of gherkin has been steadily increased since 1997-98. It accounts for 24,490 tonnes of gherkins having an export potential of INR 50.27 crore as against 35,242 tonnes worth of INR 69.86 crore in 1999-2000 (Venkatesh, 2003). In recent year gherkin export has been increased to 61.5 million tonnes with a trade value of INR1465.5 million during 2007-08 (UNFAO Export Data, 2009).2.2.1 Production and export importance of gherkin in India Gherkin crop is being selected for the present study. It is regarded as HEIA crop es pecially a hybrid crop. Gherkin cultivation and processing started in India in the early 90s and presently cultivated over 19,500 acres in the three southern states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Although gherkin can grow virtually in any part of the country, the ideal conditions required for growth digest in these three states where the growing season extends throughout the year. It requires adequate water and temperature between 15-36 degree centigrade and the right type of soil. The crop takes 85 days to reach the required maturity level. Productivity is approximately four to five tonnes per acre and the best months are from February to March followed by June to August. India is a major exporter of provisionally preserved gherkin. Table 10 11 shows the cucumber and gherkin export from India. In India, Karnataka stands first in export, where cultivation is steadily growing since 2001-02 accounting for a worth of INR 1200 million. During 2006-07 gherkins accounts to INR 3133 million which has been exported (Table 12).Table 10 Cucumber and gherkin exports from India (2007-08)Country Value( Million INR) Quantity (Tonnes) Share (%) )UAE1.96142.7517.55Bangladesh1.92290.0017.17Netherland1.7893.1015.92Russia1.6683.5014.91Estonia0.8043.947.17Nepal0.7574.426.75Oman0.7570.006.74Spain0.5531.824.95France0.4720.214.27Others0.5126.424.56 Total 11.20 876.18 100SourceGherkin and Pomegranate CultivationGherkin and Pomegranate CultivationAbstractHorticulture is an important component of agriculture accounting for a very significant share in the Indian economy. Rising consumer income and changing lifestyles are creating bigger markets for high-value horticultural products in India as well as throughout the world. Among these, the most important high-value export products are fruits and vegetables. This study was conducted to analyze the comparative advantage and competitiveness of pomegranate and gherkin which are the important foreign exchange earner among fru it and vegetable crops exported from India.The primary data was collected from Tumkur and Bijapur district of Karnataka, India and secondary data was collected from concerned government institutions, APEDA and also from exporters of fruits and vegetables. The Policy Analysis Matrix (PAM) was selected as the analytical tool to analyse the export competitiveness, comparative advantage, and the degree of government interventions in the production and export of gherkin and pomegranate. The policy distortions were measured through indicators of PAM. Garret ranking technique was used to analyse the constraints in the production and export of the selected crops.EPC of Gherkin (0.5) and pomegranate (0.45) values which found to be less than one indicates that producers are not protected through policy interventions. Whereas DRC (0.27 0.28) and PCR (0.43 0.59) values of Gherkin and Pomegranate respectively shows positive, social as well as private profit which indicates that, India has a co mpetitive and comparative advantage in their production. The result for Garret ranking in case of gherkin shows that skilled labour and lack of superior quality are the major constraints in production and export of gherkin respectively. In case of pomegranate non availability of skilled labour, high incidence of pest and diseases, lack of transportation facilities, high residual effect of pesticide are the major constrain in production and export.The overall result shows that the cultivation as well as export of gherkin and pomegranate is economically profitable and efficient.Key Words Gherkin, Pomegranate, PAM, EPC and DRCList of AcronymsVariableDefinitionAPEDAAgricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development AuthorityCIFCost Insurance and FreightCrores10 millionDRCDomestic Resource CostEPCEffective Protection CoefficientEUEuropean UnionFAOSTATFood and Agriculture Organization StatisticsFOBFree On BorderFYMFarm Yard ManurehaHectaresHEIAHorticulture Export Improvement Ass ociationkgKilogramMHAMillion HectareMTMillion TonsNHBNational Horticulture BoardNPCINominal Protection Coefficient on InputsNPCONominal Protection Coefficient on OutputsNPVNet Present ValuePAMPolicy Analysis MatrixPCRPrivate Cost RatioINRIndian RupeesUAEUnited Arab EmiratesUKUnited KingdomUNCOMTRADEUnited Nations Commodity Trade StatisticsUNFAOUnited Nations Food and Agriculture OrganizationUSAUnited States of America1. Introduction1.1 BackgroundIndian agriculture is vested with the herculean responsibility of feeding over more than one billion people. Out of total, 72% of Indias population live in rural areas, further three-fourth of the rural populations depend on agriculture and allied activities for their livelihoods. The present growth in agriculture in India is hassle with problems most importantly, agricultural growth slowed down to 2.1% between 1998-99 and 2004-05. It is largely due to a decline in the food grain sector that grew at merely 0.6%. Given the high dependence of the poor on agriculture, the stagnation in this sector is currently threatening to stall poverty reduction in India (Reddy, 2007).Given the present scenario, the immediate question to be addressed is how agricultural growth can be accelerated. The question can be answered through by diversifying the consumption pattern towards high value agricultural commodities in general and high value horticultural products in particular such as fruits and vegetables. In recent years there has been a great deal of interest among policymakers and trade analysts in the role of horticultural products as a principle means of agricultural diversification and foreign exchange earnings in developing countries. Horticultural products have high income elasticity of demand as income goes up the demand raises rapidly. It grows especially in middle and high income developing countries. As people are more cautious on health and nutrition, there is a paradigm shift from high fat, high cholesterol foods such as meat and live stock products to low fat and low cholesterol foods such as fruits and vegetables. As a result, the world has changed its attention towards high value agricultural products. Hence, it is crucial to be competitive in the world market to reap the potential gains of increased and growing world demand for horticultural products such as fruits and vegetables. Thus, the purpose of the present study attempts to evaluate the consequences of international trade and competitiveness of Indian horticulture with special reference to pomegranate and gherkin crops. In the recent past, these two crops got high export potential and earned good foreign exchange.1.2 Studies on export of fruits and vegetablesThere are many studies related to export of horticultural crops especially fruits and vegetables from India. Chiniwar (2009) explained the numerous opportunities and challenges of the horticulture sector and observed that there is a tremendous potential for Indian pomegranates in the global market. He examined the growth of pomegranate exports from India. The study revealed that the growth of pomegranate exports from India is moderate in comparision to the potential for its exports. Tamanna et al. (1999) examined the export potential of selected fruits from India by using Nominal Protection Coefficient (NPC). The results indicate that the exports of Indian fruits are highly competitive in the world market. Nalini et al. (2008) observed that India has made tremendous progress in the export of cucumber and gherkin products during the past 15 years (1990-2005). The export has increased by about 129 times with an impressive annual compound growth rate of 37.46 percent, as against only 4.38 percent in the world market. An increasing and high value of Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) and a positive and increasing value for Revealed Symmetric Comparative Advantage (RSCA) have indicated high potential for their export. One percent increase in volume of internationa l trade in cucumber and gherkin may increase the demand from India by 5.96 percent. This indicates that India is highly competitive in the export of cucumber and gherkin. It has ample scope to further increase its export. Gulati et al. (1994) analyzed the export competitiveness of selected agricultural commodities and identified the constraints in the export of fresh fruits, vegetables, processed fruits and vegetables.The above studies are related to export performance, growth, and constraints of fruits and vegetables. Most of these studies focused on aspects pertaining to export of fruits and vegetables. There are no studies on export policy especially related to efficiency and comparative advantage in world market. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to analyze the export competitiveness of pomegranate and gherkin by using Policy Analysis Matrix (PAM). The study has a high scope because competitiveness has become a key issue in the international market for export developmen t of fruits and vegetables.1.3 Research objectivesIn the present study, the export competitiveness of high value horticultural crops of India is analyzed. To be very precise, the study analyzes the competitiveness of gherkin and pomegranate in the world market. It also compares the advantages and constraints in the export of these crops with the following objectives and proposed hypothesis, which will be tested based on the results and conclusion.Specific objectives To assess the export competitiveness of Gherkin and PomegranateTo examine the production and export constraints of Gherkin and PomegranateHypothesis Export of gherkin and pomegranate are competitive in international markets1.4 Structure of the thesisThe study contains the results of the analysis of export competitiveness of horticultural crops in India. In the present study, opportunities are analyzed, constraints in production and export of gherkins and pomegranates from India. We further analyze the competitiveness an d comparative advantage of these two crops in international market. The detailed information of this analysis is discussed in the following sections of the study.The first section of the thesis gives us an introduction and background on the nature of the problem, facts on the dynamics and underlying causes diversifying the consumption pattern of high value horticultural commodities. Further, a brief overview of existing studies on Indian agricultural and horticultural growth, export performance, and constraints will be discussed. The research question is broken down into specific objectives and a possible hypothesis has been put forth.The second section of the thesis will give a general overview of fruit and vegetable scenario in the world as well as in India. The section also explains the importance of selected fruit and vegetable by considering production, export and foreign exchange earnings which will help us to understand the export competitiveness of these crops from India.The third section deals with methodological framework which deals with the concepts and competitiveness of high value horticultural crops from India focusing on the application of PAM model for the study. In the same chapter, the current literature and outline of the major definitions for competitiveness and comparative advantage are studied. The above proposed model will be used as a tool to address the research objectives followed by data description.Fourth section highlights the findings of the research from the proposed model using collected information on pomegranate and gherkin cultivation, and their export. Finally, the proposed hypothesis is tested and the results inferred.The final section summarizes the whole research findings and provides meaningful policy implications.2. Scenario of fruits and vegetables in India and the world2.1 World scenario of fruits and vegetables2.1.1 High value agricultural productionRising consumer income and changing lifestyles are creating bigger markets for high value agricultural products throughout the world. Among these, the most important high value export sector is horticulture, especially fruits and vegetables. The growing markets for these products present an opportunity for the farmers of developing countries to diversify their production out of staple grains and raise their income. Annual growth rates on the order of 8 to 10 percent in high value agricultural products is promising development (Fig.1), as the production, processing and marketing of these products create a lot of needed employment in rural areas. The rapid growth in high value exports has been part of fundamental and broad reaching trend towards globalization of the agro food system. Dietary changes, trade reform and technical changes in the food industry have contributed to the growth of high value agriculture and trade (World Bank, 2008).2.1.2 World production of fruit and vegetablesThe production of fruit and vegetables all over the world grew by 30 percent between 1980 to 1990 and by 56 percent between 1990 to 2003. Much of this growth occurred in China where production grew up by 134 percent in 1980 and climbed to 200 percent by 1990 (UNFAO 2003). At present the world production of fruits and vegetables reached to 512 MT and 946.7MT respectively (Table 1 5).Vegetables China is currently the worlds largest producer of vegetables, with the production 448.9 MT with an area of 23.9 MHA (47%) (Table 1), whereas India is in the 2nd position with the production of 125.8 MT with an area of 7.8 MHA (13%) followed by USA (4%), Turkey (3%) etc (Indian Horticulture Database, 2008) (Fig.2). Among the vegetable crops gherkin is considered for the study as it is one of the most important vegetable all over the world. Table 2 shows the international production of cucumber and gherkin from different parts of the world during 2007-08. China, Turkey, Iran, Russia and USA are the world largest producers of cucumber and gherkin (Table 3), wh ereas India position in the production is 34th but it reached 1st (Table 3) and 55th (Table 4) position in export of provisionally preserved and fresh cucumber gherkin respectively.Table 1 Major vegetables producing countries in the world (2007-08)CountryArea(000 ha)Production(000 MT)Productivity(MT/ha)China2393644898319India780312588716USA13333807529Turkey9962445425Russia9701651617Egypt5981604127Iran6411599325Italy5281358726Spain3791267633Japan4331193828Others1695722262513Total54573946774Source Indian Horticulture Database (2008)Table 2 International production of cucumber and gherkin (2007-08)CountryProduction (MT)Share (%)China2806200062.9Turkey18759194.21Iran, Islamic republic17200003.86Russian federation14100003.16USA9200002.06Ukraine7750001.74Japan6340001.42Egypt6150001.38Indonesia6000001.34Spain5100001.14Mexico5000001.12Poland4920001.10Iraq4800001.08Netherland4450001.00India1200000.27Others545202412.22 World 44610943100Source Author, FAO (2008)Table 3 Major exporting countr ies of fresh cucumber and gherkin (2007)Country Value (USD)Share (%)Spain55708830.13Mexico43736923.65Netherland41982422.70Canada817074.42Germany444372.40Turkey403002.18Greece389202.10Iran277681.50Belgium253611.37USA163130.88India2350.01Others1598158.64 World 1849137Source Data from Agricultural and Processed food products Export development Authority (APEDA), India.Table 4 Major exporting countries of preserved cucumber and gherkinCountry Value (USD)Share (%)India3347649.39China1675424.72Turkey41936.19Netherlands33975.01Belgium26703.94Vietnam403002.11Sri Lanka10031.48Germany9251.37Spain5960.88USA9920.87 World 65040 Source U.N COMTRADE (2007)Fruits World fruit production has steadily risen for the past four years (see Appendix 3 ). Table 5 shows the largest fresh fruit producers from different countries during 2007-08. China is the worlds largest fruit producer, producing 19 percent of the world fruits. India ranks second in the list of world producer accounting 12 percent of the worlds production followed by Brazil, where 7 percent of the worlds fruit was grown. (Figure 3) As production is increasing in China at alarming rate compare to other top producing countries. Production growth almost averaged 6 percent per year in China, while production growth in India averaged 2.73 percent per year. The EU experienced the lower annual growth rate of 0.89 percent. Whereas, the production in USA and Brazil has been relatively constant over the period, with average annual growth rates of 0.61 percent for the former and 0.34 percent for the later. Other countries Mexico, South Africa and Chile have experienced slightly higher average annual production growth rates of 2.12, 2.56 and 1.3 percent respectively over the same period (FAOSTAT 2008). Among all fruits pomegranate is considered for the present study. Figure 4 shows India is the world largest producer of pomegranate with 900 MT (36%) followed by Iran (31%), Iraq (3%), USA (4%) etc. Over the years Indias export rate for pomegranate has grown steadily to worth of INR0.61 million (US$13741) in 2007-08 with the share of 1.2 percent (Table 6).Table 5 Major fruit producing countries in the world (2007-08)CountryArea(000 ha)Production(000 MT)Productivity(MT/ha)China95879441810India57756350311Brazil17773681821USA11682496221Italy12461789114Spain1835152938Mexico11001504114Turkey10491239012Iran12561210210Indonesia8461161514Others228412080369Total48481512070Source FAO Indian Horticulture Database (2008)Table 6 Pomegranate export from different parts of the world (2007)Country Value (USD)Share (%)Thailand17278115.06Spain13891112.11Vietnam845327.37Mexico677395.91Netherlands638585.57Madagascar538224.69Israel452193.94Uzbekistan441283.85Colombia404593.53Azerbaijan379773.31France369753.22Germany177501.55India137411.20Others30956527.45 World 1127457100Source Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), India2.2 Scenario of fruits and vegetables in India.Horticulture is an important component of agriculture accounting for a very significant share in the Indian economy. It is identified as one of the potential sector for harnessing Indias competitive advantage in international trade. Further it prepares India to achieve an overall trade target of 1% or more in the share of world trade. Meanwhile, making the country self-sufficient in the last few decades, horticulture has played a very significant role in earning foreign exchange through export.Horticultural crops cover approximately 8.5 percent of total cropped area (20 MHA) (Table 7) with annual production of 207 MT, and productivity of 10.3 MT per hectare during the year 2007-08 (FAO Indian Horticulture Database 2008). Among the horticultural crops fruits and vegetables play an important role, whereas exports of fruits and vegetables have increased over the years (Table 8). During 2004-05 export of fruits and vegetables was INR 13637.13 million as against INR 24116.57 million during 2006-07 (APE DA, 2008)Table 7 Area, production and productivity of horticultural crops in India YearArea (MHA)Production (MT)Productivity (MT/ha) )2001-0216.6145.88.82002-0316.3144.48.92003-0419.2153.3212004-0521.1170.88.12005-0618.7182.89.82006-0719.4191.89.92007-0820.1207.010.3Source FAO Indian Horticulture Database (2008)Table 8 Export of horticultural produce in IndiaProducts2004-052005-062006-07QuantityValueQuantityValueQuantityValueFloriculture seeds344962871426593922500487713Fresh Fruits vegetables129653013637146504016587198387324117Processed fruits vegetables32529396145018261359554994917316Total16563192612272009525341051258387491459Source APEDA, India Note Qty MT, value Million INRVegetables In vegetable production, India is next to China with a production of 125.8 million tonnes from 7.8 million hectares with a share of 13 percent in relation to world production (Table 9). The per capital consumption of vegetables is 120 grams per day (APEDA 2009). In case of Fresh vegetable In dias export has been increased from INR 433.14 Crore in 2006-07 to Rs 489.49 Crore in 2007-08. Major Export Destinations of these vegetables are UAE, UK, Nepal, and Saudi Arabia. (APEDA, 2009)Table 9 Area, production and productivity of vegetable crops in India YearArea (MHA)Production (MT)Productivity (MT/ha) )2001-0261568862214.42002-0360928481513.92003-0460828833414.52004-05674410124615.02005-06721311139915.42006-07758411501115.22007-08780312588716.1Source FAO Indian Horticulture Database (2008)Among all vegetables gherkin is considered for the present study due to following reasons. Indias export of gherkin has been steadily increased since 1997-98. It accounts for 24,490 tonnes of gherkins having an export potential of INR 50.27 crore as against 35,242 tonnes worth of INR 69.86 crore in 1999-2000 (Venkatesh, 2003). In recent year gherkin export has been increased to 61.5 million tonnes with a trade value of INR1465.5 million during 2007-08 (UNFAO Export Data, 2009).2.2.1 P roduction and export importance of gherkin in India Gherkin crop is being selected for the present study. It is regarded as HEIA crop especially a hybrid crop. Gherkin cultivation and processing started in India in the early 90s and presently cultivated over 19,500 acres in the three southern states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Although gherkin can grow virtually in any part of the country, the ideal conditions required for growth prevail in these three states where the growing season extends throughout the year. It requires adequate water and temperature between 15-36 degree centigrade and the right type of soil. The crop takes 85 days to reach the required maturity level. Productivity is approximately four to five tonnes per acre and the best months are from February to March followed by June to August. India is a major exporter of provisionally preserved gherkin. Table 10 11 shows the cucumber and gherkin export from India. In India, Karnataka stands first in exp ort, where cultivation is steadily growing since 2001-02 accounting for a worth of INR 1200 million. During 2006-07 gherkins accounts to INR 3133 million which has been exported (Table 12).Table 10 Cucumber and gherkin exports from India (2007-08)Country Value( Million INR) Quantity (Tonnes) Share (%) )UAE1.96142.7517.55Bangladesh1.92290.0017.17Netherland1.7893.1015.92Russia1.6683.5014.91Estonia0.8043.947.17Nepal0.7574.426.75Oman0.7570.006.74Spain0.5531.824.95France0.4720.214.27Others0.5126.424.56 Total 11.20 876.18 100Source