Horticulture was bifurcated from Agriculture Department in 1982. Area under Horticulture crops during 1982 was recorded as 3.7 Lakh Hac. in 2001 13.78 Lakh Hac was recorded with an annual production of 9.5 M.Ts, in 2002 1.5 Million Hac with an annual production of 10.00 M.Ts, in 2003-04 Area was recorded as 1.6 Million Hac with an annual production of 11.8 M.Ts, in 2004-05 the area is about 15.79 Lakh Hectares with production of 128 Lakh M.Ts, in 2006-07 the area is about 17.85 Lakh Hectares with production of 163.6 Lakh M.Ts, and in 2007-08 the area is about 19.06 Lakh Hectares with production of 191.4 Lakh M.Ts.

Andhra Pradesh is the leader in Production of Citrus, Chillies, Turmeric and Oil Palm and also major producer of Cocoa, Cashew, Guava, Coriander, Banana, Ginger And Coconut.

The main objective of the department is to extend Technical services to farmers and to guide farmers is implementation of new Technologies, introduction of new crops etc.