This document provides an introduction to horticulture. It defines horticulture as the cultivation, processing, and marketing of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and ornamental plants. The four main divisions of horticulture are pomology (fruit culture), olericulture (vegetable culture), floriculture (ornamental horticulture), and landscape architecture. Horticulture is an important industry that provides food, employment opportunities, income, and ornamental plants. It also supports industries like fertilizers, chemicals, machinery, and transportation.

1. HORTICULTURE

2. 1.
FUNDAMENTALS OF
HORTICULTURE

3. 1. Introduction
• Horticulture is the art and science of cultivating,
processing and marketing fruits, vegetables, nuts, and
ornamental plants.
• In popular parlance, it is simply "garden cultivation"
(L.hortus = garden; cultura = cultivation).
• Unlike agronomic and forest products, which are
generally utilized in the non-living state (e.g., as grains,
fibre, timber, etc.), horticultural produces are largely
used afresh.
• The returns from investment per unit area are generally
higher for horticultural plants than for agricultural and
forest plants.

4. • Nowadays, many colleges and universities have
educational programmes in horticulture.
• Such institutions not only provide training but also
conduct research works in various fields of this
discipline.
• Horticulturists gather informations from other
branches of Botany to raise elite cultivars and to evolve
best cultural practices for their successful production.
• Modern horticulture is a big business.
• It provides employment for skilled people and supports
a number of industries, such as fertilizers, chemicals,
machineries and implements.
• Also, it beautifies the environment and arouses our
aesthetic imaginations.
• Presently, many people, who do not care to grow food
crops, often enjoy growing flowers outdoors and
indoors for aesthetic purposes.

5. Divisions of horticulture
• Horticulture has four major divisions namely
• pomology (fruit culture),
• olericulture (vegetable culture),
• floriculture (ornamental horticulture) and
• landscape architecture.

6. 1. Pomology (fruit culture)

7. • This is the branch of horticulture that deals with the
production, harvesting, processing, preserving and
marketing of fruits and nuts.
• The farm land, where only fruit trees are grown, is
called an orchard.
• Growing fruits is a long-term operation.
• Fruit trees take long time to come into bearing.
• They also require more growing space than what is
required by vegetables Pomologically important
fruits are of different types.
• Some of them are succulent and juicy (mango, pine
apple, grape, etc.), whereas the others are dry
(cashew, pista, walnut, etc.).

8. 2. Olericulture (vegetable culture)

9. • This is the branch of horticulture which deals with
the production of vegetables Some vegetables are
grown for their fruits (e.g., tomato, brinjal), some
others for leaves (e.g.. spinach, amaranth), still
others for tubers (e.g., carrot, beetroot), and yet
others for pods (e.g., peas, beans).
• Unlike fruit plants, vegetables are generally short-
duration plants and so they have to be cultivated
every growing season.
• Vegetables must be harvested and used afresh.
• Vegetable production is one of the most popular
hortiultural activities of common man.

10. 3. Floriculture (ornamental horticulture)

11. • This is the cultivation and use of ornamental plants.
So, it is generally called ornamental horticulture.
• Ornamentals may be cultivated in open spaces or in
indoors.
• They can be grown, arranged, and displayed in
different ways for decorative purposes.

12. 4. Landscape architecture

13. • Landscaping is the use of ornamental plants, together with other
elements, to beautify a given area.
• The professionals who design such places are called landscape-
architects.
• Landscaping is an integral part of the construction of houses,
commercial complexes and other public places.
• Playgrounds and parks are examples of public place, where
ornamental plants are grown to beautify the environment.
• An important aspect of landscaping is ground carpeting, usually
with grass.
• A lawn is the basic landscape element in most cases.
• Other plants are then added to this ground cover.
• The branch of horticulture, concerned with the planting of trees, is
called arboriculture.
• Trees are perennial elements in a landscape design. They are large
in size and hence require more space than annual plants.
• The use of plants in beautifying indoors is called interioscaping.

14. Scope of horticulture
• Horticulture is important to society in a variety of ways.
• It acts as sources of food, employment, income and ornamentals.
1. Horticulture as a source of food
• Mankind makes use of horticulture as a source food materials,
such as vegetables, fruits, nuts and berries.
• These food items are rich in carbohydrates, proteins vitamins and
minerals.
• For example, legumes are rich in carbohydrate eins.
• Horticultural products provide balanced diet for human beings.
• Commercial horticulture accounts for most of the horticultural
produces in our county.
• Neumerous house owners are engaged in gardening for fresh fruits
and vegetables .
• It is a hobby and a recreation for many others.

15. 2. Horticulture as a source of ornamentals
• Ornamental plants are cultivated and maintained both as indoors
and outdoors.
• Plants used in landscaping include trees, shrubs, bedding plants
and grasses.
• Ornamentals are formally displayed in arboreta, parks, botanical
gardens, etc. for the amusement of the public.
• Botanical gardens are designed to exhibit a large variety of plant
types for cultural and educational purposes.
• Flowers feature very prominently on several occasions, such as
receptions, funerals and weddings.
• The golf course industry is a major horticultural enterprise that
involves not only turf grasses but also a wide variety of trees,
shrubs, bedding plants and other ornamentals.
• Nowadays, landscaping has become an integral part of home
designs.

16. 3. Horticulture as a source of income
and employment
• Horticulture fetches substantial income by way of selling fruits, vegetables,
flowers, seeds, seedlings, etc.
• Also, it offers plenty of job opportunities, directly or indirectly.
• Many of such jobs require knowledge and training in horticulture.
• The training should be at vocational level or at college level.
• The work may be in indoors or outdoors.
• Collegiate education gives a sound knowledge of the field, offers job
opportunities at supervisory or managerial levels, and provides
opportunities for undertaking investigatory projects or research
programmes.
• The selected categories of jobs that require varying degrees of familiarity
with horticulture include flower grower, extension officer, farm manager,
sales or marketing officer, teacher and researcher.
• These jobs can be obtained by persons trained in other fields also, such as
basic science, engineering, economics, marketing, agribusiness, genetics,
and post-harvest physiology.

17. Horticulture industry
• Horticulture is, in fact, an industry which depends largely on a
variety of chemicals, including fertilizers, pesticides, and
growth hormones.
• Many companies are involved in the manufacture of
chemicals that are used to enhance the growth and field of
plants and to improve the quality of the produces.
• Chemicals (called agro chemicals) constitute an integral part
of modern high-input production practices
• However, crop production using little or no synthetic
chemicals, called organic farming, is steadily gaining
popularity nowadays.

18. • Horticulture industry needs the service of
engineers to design and produce tools and
machineries.
• Machineries and implements are essential for
land preparation, planting, weeding, spraying,
harvesting, storing, and packaging.
• These aids enable the growers to undertake
large-scale production of horticultural plants.
• Home garden versions of some of these
machineries and equipment are also available.

20. • Horticultural produces and products are to be transported
from the areas of production to marketing outlets.
• Due to their quick perishable nature, horticultural produces
and products require special handling in transportation to
retain their quality for a long time.
• Hence, the industry needs effective transportation facility.
• Certain items require refrigeration during transportation and
storage.
• As most horticultural produces are harvested and used afresh,
the ability to preserve their quality in transit is critical to the
industry.
• In certain cases, the produces are harvested before they ripen
in order to increase their shelf life.
• Home gardeners have the advantage of ready access to vine-
ripened and fresh produces.