Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has pointed at climate related calamities for the occasional price fluctuations in vegetable prices and not due to shortage in supply. In a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, he said that India is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the World and does not have a supply deficit in case of vegetable crops. The occasional price fluctuations are mainly due to supply disruptions caused by unseasonal rains, heat waves and other climate related calamities. He said the country's total horticulture production in 2022-23 is estimated to be the highest ever at 350.87 million tonnes. This is 12.8 percent higher than the total horticulture production in the year 2018-19. He said India’s total vegetable production also increased by 16 per cent from 183.2 million metric tonne in 2018-19 to 212.5 million metric tonne in 2022-23 in first advance estimates. The Minister said the country has net export of 3357 thousand metric tonnes of Onion, Tomato, Potato, Brinjal, Cauliflower, Cabbage and Green Chilli in 2022-23.