The key importance of horticulture is that it plays a primary role in solving the global micronutrient crisis and increases income and job opportunities, especially for women.
Time and again, we are used to calling agriculture for everything we see related to farmers and their farms. But what most of us do not know is that there are many divisions within agriculture itself. For example, horticulture is an emerging field. The horticulturist researches the importance of horticulture from gardening and landscaping as plant propagation depends on crop production, plant breeding, genetic engineering, plant biochemistry, and plant physiology.
What is Horticulture?
Hortus means garden, and Colere meaning to grow or to cultivate, i.e., Cultura meaning cultivation. The exact definition for the term horticulture can be said as the art or practice of garden cultivation and management for the crops themselves. A person who does horticulture is called a horticulturist, and that person goes one step beyond agriculture as they know the science behind different plants, flowers, and greenery.
Two different types of Horticulture are,
- Amateur Horticulture
Amateur Horticulture is a casual or informal Horticulture grown based on the interest; it is commonly known as vocational horticulture.
- Commercial Horticulture
Commercial Horticulture, on the other hand, is growing in great demand. Therefore, it is commonly known as professional horticulture.
Different branches of horticulture are,
- Pomology: It is the scientific study of fruit crops
- Olericulture: It deals with the study of vegetable cultivation. The term Olericulture is derived from a Latin word that means vegetable cultivation.
- Floriculture: Floriculture is the study of flower cultivation.
- Post-harvest Technology: Another branch of Horticulture deals with the principles and practices of handling the processing and packaging of harvested crops to increase storage life and availability.
Importance of Horticulture
Horticulture can play a very important role in our daily lives. The sad part is that most of us do not know this, and we take things for granted. For example, we never think about the hard work that the farmers of this country do to give us the food we eat in huge quantities every day. This article brings to light how important horticulture is, so this will educate you on the same so that if someone asks you what horticulture is, you will be ready to answer it as you will have a lot of information about it.
These are the 6 main things that horticulture affects and helps us in our daily lives, whether we think about it or not.
Diet
When we look at a human nutrition point of view currently, the field of horticulture is the most important to our daily living. Many of the crops related to horticulture and their products find a place in our meals and diet. The human body requires essential vitamins, proteins, minerals, and energy for their health. Horticultural crops supply all these because they come from fruits and vegetables. These are the chief sources of vitamins that our body requires, like minerals, carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and so on. They are also recognized as protective foods, which is why they play an important role as necessary for the maintenance of human health.
Entertainment
People might be wondering how it is important for entertainment, but it is. Roaming around in the gardens and orchards or other places that are well planted with flowerbeds gives you a nice feeling. It also provides the person with a feeling of mental peace and a will to do stuff. One always enjoys fresh air and the natural beauty of things as they shed away any tension by making them fresh. That is how horticulture helps.
Medicinal purposes
It can be important for medicinal purposes because of the parts of a plant like a stem, leaf, flowers, and roots. Even the fruits of horticulture plants can make drugs, chemicals, insecticides, germicides, and the likes. For example, the rose water we used to use daily can cure eye ailments. Similarly, there is a particular saffron that is an important ingredient in many medicines. Papain is also a well-used digestive enzyme, and citrus fruit like sweet lime can be used for a liver ailment.
Environment
The importance of horticulture in improving land productivity is very important as it generates employment, which leads to more workers and more plants; the better it is for the environment. Also, improving the economic conditions of the farmers and entrepreneurs goes a long way, enhancing exports and, above all, providing nutritional security to the people of our country, and it is now widely acknowledged. So basically, horticulture helps in keeping the environment clean and green.
Aesthetic value
Aesthetic value and religious importance is the unique factor distinguishing it from agricultural activities. Mango leaves, wood, banana leaves, etc., are used for religious functions. Similarly, the banana tree plantation in the courtyard or tulsi plantation is said to bring prosperity as per the Hindu religion.
Economic value
Increased production is possible compared to other Agronomic crops because trees have a longer life and their production increases with age, provided proper care is taken. Similarly, vegetables can also be grown 3 to 4 times each year, giving the products all the time they are grown. Thus, more crops can be grown from the same piece of land.
Scope of Horticulture
The Scope and business in horticulture, especially in India, are increasing day by day. Floriculture is another part of horticulture which we will not get into too much in detail as it is another topic, but we will give you a gist of it. It is a process of cultivation of mainly flowering plants used as a raw material for making perfumes that we humans so heavily use when we go out and cosmetics, for that matter, in the pharmaceutical industry. Growing vegetables is also another important part of horticulture that people often neglect, which is very demanding in India. It is said that in our country, horticulturists are in high demand and various industries.
There are a great number of job opportunities that are available for the people of India after the completion of this study. After a lot of research in this field, people have found out that, once this is done, one can become a horticulturist, floriculturist, pomologist, and any of the following as long as it is in the same field. In Horticulture, one can also become a scientist as they can go for research studies. Under this course, you can find many jobs regarding the same in production and sales, public gardens, marketing, research, and development, also called R&D, landscape design, agricultural engineering, pest management, etc.
Horticulture Career Prospects
From the information given above, we can clearly say that horticulture is a branch of Agriculture that concerns the garden. But how does this garden-related field affect our career? Since it is all related to Crops, there is always risk involved for it not to grow. As horticulture can also be defined as the branch of agriculture concerned with intensively cultivated plants, it is directly related to research work. Man can use it for food, medicinal purposes, or aesthetic purposes.
There are ample opportunities for people who choose this field, and their career path in the horticulture field will be great. Several options are available for graduates if they choose horticulture. There are many lucrative jobs available for the people of our country in both the public and private sectors.
You can also apply for the same job in the form of a District Horticulture Officer or called as District Agriculture Officer through an examination conducted by the State Public Service Commission. In addition to this, you can apply for the post called Technical Assistant or Technical Officers in Agricultural Universities like the more popular ICAR, DRDO, IARI, & CSIR. They can also work as a designer in the same field or a contractor for landscaping projects or work in companies dealing with seeds, fertilizers, sprays, and other related fields of horticulture. A horticulturist is known to also choose their career in the education sector as a professor.
Horticulture Job Roles
Those holding a valid PhD degree can apply for any of the roles and an examination conducted by the Agriculture Scientist Recruitment Board, otherwise called ICAR, which is in New Delhi. This examination is conducted for the post of scientist. But for your reference, we have included various other roles that you can get into when you enter the field of horticulture, as these are the job profiles you can see.
- Project Manager
- Gardener
- Foreman
- Horticulturist
- Horticultural Education Supervisor
- Assistant Manager of Human Resources
- Professor
- Scientist
Horticulture Salary
People are worried about the salary they might receive to start earning a little less. The average salary, according to reports of a horticulturist, is around INR 33,700 per annum. The salary will depend upon the area of specialization and the location. Besides, it also depends on the level of education. And currently, the average salary as the District Horticulture Officers is INR 4.05 lakhs per annum.
The salary ranges as per the work experience and as per the level of education. To get an idea about the salary in this field please refer to the ta
|
Experience |
Annual Salary |
|
Fresher |
INR 1.64 Lakh to 2.5 Lakh |
|
With Experience |
INR 10 Lakh |
