Horticulture: Importance and Scope PDF

# Horticulture: Importance and Scope The term Horticulture first appeared in written language in the seventeenth century. It was first mentioned in Peter Lauremberg's treatise written in 1631. In English, Horticulture was first mentioned by E Phillips in ‘The New World of English Words, London, 167...

# Horticulture: Importance and Scope The term Horticulture first appeared in written language in the seventeenth century. It was first mentioned in Peter Lauremberg's treatise written in 1631. In English, Horticulture was first mentioned by E Phillips in ‘The New World of English Words, London, 1678. The word horticulture is derived from the Latin words; hortus and colere meaning garden and to cultivate respectively. Thus, Horticulture is a part of plant agriculture which is concerned with cultivation of “garden crops”. Garden crops traditionally include fruits, vegetables, ornamental plants, spices, plantation crops, medicinal and aromatic plants, etc. The culture of garden is a medieval concept. The cultivation of garden plant is in contrast to the cultivation of field crops which is practised in an extensive manner. Horticulture relies on growing and manipulating plants in a relatively intensive manner. The horticultural crops require very intense care in planting, carrying out cultural operations, manipulating growth, harvesting, packing, marketing, storage and processing. Many horticultural produce are highly perishable, their constituent water is essential to their quality and hence mostly utilized in living stage. In contrast, the produce of agronomy and forestry are often utilized in the non-living state and are usually high in dry matter. Taking these things into account, precisely, horticulture can be defined as the branch of agriculture concerned with intensively cultured plants directly used by people for food, for medicinal purpose or for aesthetic gratification. ## Branches of Horticulture - **Pomology:** The term Pomology is derived from the Latin word pomum meaning ‘fruits’ and the Greek word logy meaning ‘science’. Thus, pomology is the science of production of fruit crops. - **Olericulture:** The term Olericulture is originated from Latin word ‘oleris’ meaning pot herb and the English word culture meaning raising of plants. Thus, olericulture is the science of vegetable crops. Vegetable is a general term for any vegetable matter coming from vegetable kingdom. Etymologically, the word vegetable has been developed from Latin word vegetabilis means animated and from vegetare which means enliven. In context to the plant growing, these words connote to lively nature of vegetables. - **Floriculture/Landscape gardening:** Floriculture is the science of flower production. Landscape is the appearance of land as it appears to the eye. Landscape gardening is the art of beautifying a piece of land using garden design, methods and plant materials. - Besides, horticulture also covers spice, plantation, medicinal and aromatic crops and post-harvest handling of all these crops come under its purview. # Importance and Scope As per 1st advance estimate, NHB, Gurugram (Haryana) of the year 2018-19, fruit crop covers an area of 6.5 million hectares and vegetable crops 10.4 million hectares. Accordingly, 96.75 million tonnes of fruits and 187.47 million tonnes of vegetables are produced in the country annually. In view of rising demand for consumption, export and processing industry the requirements of horticultural produce is increasing. In view of these, there is a lot of scope of increasing production and potentiality of horticultural crops. Apart from fruits and vegetables, floriculture industry in India comprising of trade of nursery plants, potted plants, seed and bulb products etc., is being observed as a sunrise industry. There is a soaring business of flowers in almost all metropolitan cities of the different states. The developed flower market in the country can be seen through Table 1.5. The traditional flowers are grown on a large hectarage of land on a commercial scale. These flowers are mostly grown for loose flower purpose. Area under modern cut flowers like rose, chrysanthemum, gladiolus, carnation and orchids is increasing day by day. In India, 3.39 lac hectare area is under the cultivation of flowers. Table 1.3 and Fig. 1.1 shows the details of area under flori-crops and major markets their of, respectively, in different states. Plantation crops are another potential sector with lot of opportunities of employment generation, foreign exchange earning and overall supporting livelihood sustenance of mankind at large. These crops form the mainstay of livelihood especially in coastal areas of the country where predominating stands of plantation crops are found. Coconut has so much importance in the economy that the state Kerala receives its very name on the basis of coconut – the Malayalam name of which is kera. Ofcourse, it is very difficult to make confinement in the list of plantation crops, area and production under some important states in India are furnished in Table 1.4. The importance of Horticulture can be described under following heads: - **(i) Income generation:** Horticultural crops, especially fruits, vegetables and plantation crops are more and prolific yielder as compared to other crops. Furthermore, spices, medicinal, aromatic and flori-crops are high value crops. These crops fetch more price in the market. One hectare field of horticultural crops may generate income to the extent of ₹10,000 to ₹1,00,000 and even many times more, depending upon nature, value of crops, and also marketing factors. - **(ii) Employment generation:** Horticultural crops are labour intensive. These crops, being delicate and tender in nature, require utmost care in each and every aspect of cultivation, right from selection of site to harvesting, processing, marketing and storage. All such factors raise man-days’ requirement. As far as the employment generation is concerned, one hectare fruit production generates 860 man-days per annum as against 143 man-days in cereal crops. - **(iii) Industrial development:** Horticulture plants or their product directly or indirectly constitute raw material for many industries. Whole of the plantation crops like Tea, Coffee, Rubber, Cardamom, Coconut, Oil-palm etc. form viable entities for industries. Growing of ornamental plants is an industry in itself. Indoor pot plants, bulbous plants, orchids etc. are plants of great marketing value. Medicinal plants like Dioscorea, Senna, Ocimum, Aloe, Buchh, Chitrak, Ashwagandha, Sarpagandha, Isabgol, Musli, Chamomile, Sweet Marjoram, Khas, Kala Zira, Pipli etc. are largely exploited in therapeutical industry for their known value in medicare systems. Aromatic plants like Rose, Jasmine, Tuberose, Sandal, Khas etc. bestowed with aroma essence are used in perfumery industry. The manufacturing of soaps, shampoos, creams, lotions, ointments etc. depends a lot on the plant based products. An array of products are prepared using horticultural plants or produce. - **(iv) Religious and sacred value:** Many plants parts like leaves, twigs, flowers, fruits etc. possess religious value and are used in many ceremonies. Festoon of mango leaves, entrance gate of banana, omen-flare of coconut fruits, etc. have their own significance in celebrations. Satyabhama, a partner of Lord Krishna, had lot of fond for Parijat flowers (Nyctanthes arbortristis) and leaves of Bael (Aegle marmelos) are famous for offering to Lord Shiva. Our ancient scriptures are abound in rich references of fruits and flowers used for religious purpose. Worshipping tree is considered pilgrimic action. - **(v) Food value:** Some fruits like banana and vegetables like potato and sweet potato, being very rich in carbohydrate; almond, walnut, cashewnut in fat and protein are high calorific value food. Banana and sweet-potato constitute staple food in some areas. About 24 bananas each weighing around 100 g would provide the energy requirement (2400 calories per day) of a sedentary man. - **(vi) Nutritional value:** Fruits and vegetables, being rich in vitamins and minerals, are known as protective food. Realizing the worth of fruits and vegetables in human health, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) recommends the use of 120 g fruits and 280 g vegetables per capita per day. Consumption of adequate amount of fruits and vegetables helps in maintaining health and vigour of an individual. **Nutrient-wise richness of important fruits and vegetables are as under:** | Nutrient | Value | Nutrient | Value | |-----------------------------|----------------|-----------------------------|----------------| | **Vitamin ‘A’ richness** | | **Vitamin ‘B₁’ (Thiamine) richness** | | | Mango | 4800 IU/100 g | Cashewnut | 630 mg/100 g | | Papaya | 2020 IU/100 g | Walnut | 450 mg/100 g | | Beet leaf | 9770 IU/100 g | Apricot (dry) | 217 mg/100 g | | Spinach leaves | 9300 IU/100 g | **Vitamin ‘B2’ (Riboflavin) richness** | | | Fenugreek leaves | 6450 IU/100 g | Bael | 1.19 mg/100 g | | Mustard leaves | 4370 IU/100 g | Papaya | 0.02 mg/100 g | | Colocasia leaves | 10278 µg/100 g | Amaranthus | 0.30 mg/100 g | | Coriander leaves | 6918 µg/100 g | Fenugreek leaves | 0.31 mg/100 g | | Drumstick leaves | 6780 µg/100 g | Litchi | 0.06 mg/100 g | | Carrot | 28129 IU/100 g | Chillies | 0.55 mg/100 g | | | | Colocasia leaves | 0.22 mg/100 g | | | | Tomato (red) | 0.12 mg/100 g | | **Vitamin ‘C’ richness** | | **Vitamin ‘C’ richness** | | | Barbados cherry | 1000-4000 mg/100 g | Lemon | 39 mg/100 g | | Aonla | 600 mg/100 g | Drumstick leaves | 220 mg/100 g | | Guava | 299 mg/100 g | Coriander leaves | 135 mg/100 g | | Lime | 63 mg/100 g | Chilli | 111 mg/100 g | | Sweet orange | 50 mg/100 g | Tomato | 31 mg/100 g | | | | **Carbohydrate richness** | | | **Carbohydrate richness** | | Apricot (dry) | 72.81% | | Apricot (dry) | 72.81% | Date (pind) | 67.30% | | Date (pind) | 67.30% | Karonda (dry) | 67.10% | | Karonda (dry) | 67.10% | Banana | 36.40% | | Banana | 36.40% | Bael | 30.6% | | Bael | 30.6% | Custard apple | 23.90% | | Custard apple | 23.90% | Cashewnut | 22.37% | | Cashewnut | 22.37% | Jamun | 19.7% | | | | Jackfruit | 18.9% | | | | Tapioca | 38.1% | | | | Sweet Potato | 28.2% | | | | Potato | 22.6% | | | | Curry leaves | 18.7% | | **Protein richness** | | **Protein richness** | | | Cashewnut | 21.20% | Peas | 7.2 g/100 g | | Almond | 20.80% | Cowpea | 4.3 g/100 g | | Walnut | 15.60% | Indian Bean | 3.8 g/100 g | | **Fat richness** | | **Fat richness** | | | Walnut | 64.50% | Cashewnut | 46.90% | | Almond | 58.90% | Avocado | 22.80% | | | | **Fibre richness** | | | **Fibre richness** | | Guava | 6.90% | | Guava | 6.90% | Walnut | 2.60% | | Kaintha | 5.20% | Amaranth | 1.0% | | Pomegranate | 5.10% | Mustard | 0.8% | | Aonla | 3.40% | Beet leaf | 0.7% | | Grape | 3.00% | Spinach | 0.6% | | **Calcium richness** | | **Calcium richness** | | | Litchi | 0.21% | Curry leaves | 813 mg/100 g | | Karonda (dry) | 0.16% | Amaranthus | 395 mg/100 g | | Kaintha | 0.13% | Fenugreek leaves | 395 mg/100 g | | Agathi | 1130 mg/100 g | Radish leaves | 265 mg/100 g | | Coriander leaves | 184 mg/100 g | | | | **Phosphorus richness** | | **Phosphorus richness** | | | Cashewnut | 0.45% | Litchi | 0.30% | | Walnut | 0.38% | Kaintha | 0.11% | | | | **Iron richness** | | | **Iron richness** | | Karonda (dry) | 39.1% | | Karonda (dry) | 39.1% | Agathi | 83.9 mg/100 g | | Date (pind) | 10.6% | Amaranthus tender | 25.5 mg/100 g | | Cashewnut | 5.0% | Coriander leaves | 1.5 mg/100 g | | Walnut | 4.80% | | | - **(vii) Aesthetic value:** A young growing plant gives an impression of youth. To Mughals each tree was symbolic to something. Fruit trees were considered symbol of life and youth. Many rulers and emperors planted avenues with trees of fruits like Mango, Litchi, Sapota, Mahua, Khirni etc. in their gardens having been enchanted by the aesthetic look of the trees. For aesthetic looks trees find their place in urban plantation, village landscape and park plantation etc. - **(viii) Export value:** Among fresh fruits, mangoes and grapes; in vegetables, onion and potato; among flowers, roses; among plantation and spice crops, tea, coffee, coconut, areacanut, black pepper, cardamom, ginger, turmeric, chillies, cashewnut, etc. constitute the bulk of the export basket. European and Gulf Countries are major importer of horticultural produce (Table 1.6). - **(ix) Miscellaneous** * Horticultural trees work in near semblance to forest trees in maintaining ecosphere. * They help in transforming micro-climate. * Provide shelter to birds, reptiles and other micro-organisms and add to the geo-zoological diversity on the land. * Provide impetus to the writers, poets, thinkers and analysts and thus keeps their cultural impulse alive. * Add to the survival of life-spheres of living entity. The document also includes a map of India showing the major flower markets. The document contains a detailed description of horticultural crops, including their importance, scope, and economic value. It is a useful resource for anyone interested in learning more about the world of horticulture.