Horticulture

Did you eat any fruits or vegetables today? Enjoy beautiful landscaping in a park? Play
golf at a well-managed course?

What is Horticulture?
Horticulture is branch of plant agriculture and is both a science and an art. As a science,
we use techniques such as hydroponic systems and tissue culture to produce intensively
cultured and high-value crops for consumers. Horticulture deals with garden crops such
as vegetables, fruits, and ornamental plants
that are used not just for eating but also for
medical and landscape usage. As a part of art,
it in cooperates the principle of design such
as landscaping and floral arts. Both are
intimately associated with each other and
modern horticultural is one of the most
advanced parts of the agriculture.

Why is Horticulture important?

We all need nutritional food and plants to beautify the environment to live. Horticulture
is essential, not only for our continued sustenance, but for our continued well-being.
Horticulture today incorporates many modern technologies and combines them with
techniques that have been in use since antiquity. To provide high nutritional crops and
beautiful neighborhoods, horticulture research is necessary. Even if there is a place with a
small amount of rain and is located in the cities with no gardening space, we can still
make high nutritional crops using aeroponic systems which requires less water compared
to soil grown crops. Also, you can utilize space such as the top of buildings or office
spaces. We use creativity to seek sustainable solutions in horticultural research to
enhance health and quality of life for world at large.

People in the field are interested in finding new

techniques such as shortening days for harvesting
crops using hydroponic systems, or plant
breeding to improve varieties of edible crops and
ornamental plants. Horticulture is popular and
important in all societies, both rich and poor. The
popularity of horticulture is due to its economic
value, job opportunities created, high-quality
food produced, and aesthetic pleasures that
support psychological well-being. Horticulture is
said to be a diverse industry, spread across the continent in a wide array of climates. It is
the second-largest and the fastest growing industry in agriculture. As most labor intensive

of all agricultural industries, horticulture employs around one-third of those employed in

agriculture. Maintaining greenhouses requires many skills like pest management, plant
breeding, and tissue culture. Having varieties of job opportunities also helps people to
have stable life throughout the world.This will help people especially in the developing
countries. Garden crops will provide people in the developing countries not just
nutritional crops, but also being part of the growers will provide them jobs to have a
financially stable life.
Plants are indispensable in our daily life and we cannot live without garden crops and
landscape plants. They provide beauty, relaxation for family, comfortable place, health
benefits, and purified air. We eat fruits and vegetables, enjoy beautiful landscaping in a
park, and play golf at a well-managed course. What we see and do is related to
horticulture. Horticulture affects everyone and knowledge that you learn in this field will
help to positively impact the world around yourself.

Reference:
Defining Horticulture. (n.d.). International Society for Horticulture Science. Retrieved
October 4, 2016, from http://www.ishs.org/defining-horticulture