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Abstract
Horticulture can be promoted as a means of agro-diversification for the second green revolution in
India, providing the much-needed impetus to the growth of agricultural sector, through increase in
trade, income and employment. The Indian agriculture is diversifying towards production of high-value
commodities along with the increasing role of smallholding farmers. In this paper, the economic
feasibility of diversifying towards horticultural crops has been examined. The benefit-cost analysis
has been done and a comparison of commodities of foodgrain and horticultural group has been presented
to evaluate the feasibility of diversification. Supply constraints in terms of poor supply-chain
management have been highlighted. The BCR of horticulture has been reported to be more than that
of cereals. This implies that it is profitable and economically feasible to shift land from cereals to
horticultural crops. It has been argued that the reason why the farmers still continue to cultivate the
staple foodgrains is their demand for self-consumption. The study has cautioned that the re-allocation/
diversification of land should be done in a manner such that optimal output and income can be generated,
keeping in mind the domestic demand, exports target and improvement in the economic conditions of
farmers. The diversification plan for the horticultural sector needs to be identified as it offers an
attractive option and a major source of pushing up growth of the agricultural sector. The paper has
pointed out that the policy issues involved on the production, marketing and policy fronts can bring
about the desired growth in the agricultural sector.