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Horticulture
Horticulture (Latin: hortus (garden plant) + cultura (culture)) is classically
defined as the culture or growing of garden plants. 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.
The study of horticulture
Horticulture involves six 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), postharvest physiology (involves maintaining quality
and preventing spoilage of horticultural crops), and Arboriculture the study and
selection, planting, care, and removal of individual trees, shrubs, vines, and
other perennial woody plants. 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 (fruits,
vegetables, 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, botany,
entomology, chemistry, mathematics, genetics, physiology, statistics, computer
science, and communications, garden design, planting design. Plant science and
horticulture courses include: plant materials, plant propagation, tissue
culture, crop production, post-harvest handling, plant breeding, pollination
management, crop nutrition, entomology, plant pathology, economics, and
business. Some careers in horticultural science require a masters (MS) or
doctoral (PhD) degree.
Horticulture takes place in many gardens and plant growth centres. Plants are
often grown as seedlings within plant nurseries. Activities in nurseries range
from preparing seeds and cuttings to growing fully mature plants. These are
often sold or transferred to ornamental gardens or market gardens.
The origins of horticulture lie in the transition of human communities from
nomadic hunter-gatherers to sedentary or semi-sedentary horticultural
communities, cultivating a variety of crops on a small scale around their
dwellings or in specialized plots at some remove (such as the "milpa" or maize
field of Mesoamerican cultures). In forest areas such horticulture is often
carried out in swiddens ("slash and burn" areas). A characteristic of
horticultural communities is that useful trees are often to be found planted
around communities or specially retained from the natural ecosystem. Learn
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