Government Intervention in Horticulture Development in Maharashtra: A Study of Alphonso Mango Cultivation in Ratnagiri

Agriculture in Maharashtra is mainly rainfed, facing scanty and erratic rainfall. Barely 18 per cent of gross cropped area is irrigated. Consequently, low value coarse cereals dominate the cropping pattern. The Government has made concerted efforts to improve the productivity of land by promoting horticulture and implementing the Horticulture Development Programme linked to Employment Guarantee Scheme. Subsidies were given to farmers to cultivate fruit and medicinal crops. A field survey of this scheme with respect to mango crop in Ratnagiri taluka revealed that in the first year of the fruitbearing stage itself, the beneficiaries earned a positive return which was augmented with the subsidy component. By providing subsidy to small and marginal farmers, the scheme also helped to improve their socio-economic status. The fruit crop has tremendous export potential which can be tapped with opening up of the economy.