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Home > Horticulture


The Latin words hortus ( garden plant) and cultura (culture) together form horticulture, classically defined as the culture or growing of garden plants. Horticulture is, however, much more. Horticulturists work in plant propagation, crop production, plant breeding and genetic engineering, plant biochemistry, plant physiology, and the storage, processing, and transportation of fruits, berries, nuts, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs, and turf. They improve crop yield, quality, nutritional value, and resistance to insects, diseases, and environmental stresses. Genetics is also used as a valuable tool in the development of plants that can synthesize chemicals for fighting disease (including cancers).

Horticulture involves five areas of study. These areas are floriculture (includes production and marketing of floral crops), landscape horticulture (includes production, marketing and maintenance of landscape plants), olericulture (includes production and marketing of vegetables), pomology (includes production and marketing of fruits), and postharvest physiology (involves maintaining quality and preventing spoilage of horticultural crops).

Horticulturists can work in industry, government, or educational institutions. They can be cropping systems engineers, wholesale or retail business managers, propagators and tissue culture specialists ( fruit, vegetableVegetable is a nutritional and culinary term denoting any part of a plant that is commonly consumed by humans as food, but is not regarded as a culinary fruit, nut, herb, spice, or grain. In common usage, vegetables include the leaves (e. lettuce), stemss, ornamentals, and turf), crop inspectors, crop production advisors, extension specialists, plant breeders, research scientists, and of course, teachers.

College courses that complement Horticulture are biology, chemistry, mathematics, genetics, physiology, statistics, computer science, and communications. Plant scienceBotany is the scientific study of plants. As a branch of biology, it is also sometimes referred to as plant science(s or plant biology . Botany covers a wide range of scientific disciplines that study the growth, reproduction, metabolism, development, dis and horticulture courses include: plant materials, plant propagation, tissue culture, crop production, post harvest handling, plant breeding, pollination managementPollination Management is the label for horticultural practices that accomplish or enhance pollination of a crop, to improve yield or quality, by understanding of the particular crop's pollination needs, and by knowledgeable management of pollenizers, pol, crop nutrition, entomologyEntomology is the scientific study of insects. Insects have many kinds of interactions with humans and other forms of life on earth, so it is an important specialty within biology; unlike many other fields however, entomologists include both persons study, plant pathologyPhytopathology or Plant Pathology is the science of diagnosing and managing plant diseases. Its covers all infectious agents that attack plants and abiotic disorders, but does not include herbivory by insects, mammals, etc. Common plant pathogens (in roug, economics, and business. Some careers in horticultural science require a masters (MS) or doctoral (PhD) degree.



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