Unit I: Horticulture Today

Lesson 1 – Horticulture and its Scope

Introduction
Agriculture is not only an agriculturist or farmer’s interests but it is anybody’s concern. Agriculture is the
backbone of our economy. Man survival relies solely on the product of agriculture. This lesson introduces you to
horticulture as one of the pillars of the economy.

Learning Outcomes
 Explain the importance of horticulture for today.
 Identify and enumerate the different branches of horticulture.

Abstraction:
Horticulture is the art, science, technology and business of growing and utilizing garden and plantation
crops. It is an art, as creativity is applied in using the plants to enhance the beauty, economic value, and utility of
homes, shops public building and parks. It is a science in that there is an orderly array of basic facts that explain and
direct crop performance. It is a technology, because systematic processes and operations are essential to successful
crop production. And it is a business in that it is concerned with profit; this aspect of horticulture is sometimes known
as commercial horticulture.
Generally, horticulture is both for amateurs and professional. It is for both small – and – big scale enterprises.

The Scope of Horticulture

The word horticulture is derived from the Latin word hortus, meaning garden or enclosure, and colore,
meaning to cultivate. Thus, garden crops is taken to refer to those crops that are intensively cultivated or those on
which one spends much time taking care of within a relatively small are. Traditionally, it includes fruits, vegetables
and all plants grown for ornamental purposes as well as for spices and medicine. In recent years in the Philippines,
perennial crops grown on a large scale and intended for industrial purposes were added to the scope of horticulture.
These are called plantation crops. These are not garden crops, but they have similarities to the fruit crops which are
traditional horticultural crops. To this group belong oil – bearing and rubber crops, beverages, and perennial fibers, in
addition to the spices and the medicinal plants.
The present – day classification of crop agriculture or crop production into agronomy, horticulture and
forestry goes back to the middle Ages in Europe.
 Agronomy – refers to the practice of planting extensive areas to grains and pasture grasses.
 Horticulture – stems from the cultivation of small gardens around the house to supply the family with fruits,
vegetables and herbs as well as ornamentals.
 Forestry – has developed from the management of lands planted to trees providing timber and supporting
wild life.

There are no hard and fast rules in determining whether a crop is horticultural or agronomic one. The purpose of
which crop is grown, the type of culture, and the general customs of the country where it is found, are the determining
factors. For example, mungbean is either agronomic or horticultural crop depending on its use and the extent of its
cultivation. It is agronomic crop when grown in large scale for the manufacture of sotanghon, a kind of noodle popular
in the Philippines. It is a horticultural crop when used as vegetable.

Branches of horticulture
There is a great variety and diversity of horticultural crops. They can be divided into four main groups: fruits,
vegetables, ornamentals and plantation crops. The branches of horticulture are based on the studies of these crops.
 Pomology – study of fruit crops
 Olericulture – study of vegetable crops
 Ornamental horticulture – study of ornamental crops (amenity horticulture) and floriculture for flowering
ornamentals, ornamental nursery management and landscaping

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  Plantation crops – perennial crops that grown in a large scale.

In recent years, the concern for a safe and healthy environment has been so emphasized that the specific term
environmental horticulture same into being, it refers to the proper growing of plants and their pleasing
arrangements with the use of various structures, with great emphasis on the plants growth habits and habitats, their
utility to the community, and their relationship to the environment. Other areas of a study within a branch of
horticulture have grown specific fields of studies by themselves as such;
 Viticulture – study of grape culture
 Citriculture – study of citrus culture
 Orchid culture – study of the propagation and production of orchids.

Again, the culture (customs, beliefs and tradition) of a people and the main purpose for which they grow a
crop, determine to which group they belongs. Example, muskmelon and watermelon are considered fruits in Malaysia
but vegetables in the Philippines. Therefore; vegetable, is a succulent plant or plant part usually eaten as a
supplementary food in cooked or raw form, and is neither a sweet fruit nor mature grain. Muskmelon and water melon
are however, considered vegetables mainly because the members of the family to which they belong are classified as
vegetables, and their methods of culture are similar.
Botanically speaking, a fruit is the enlarged organ derived from the pistil and other associated floral parts. On
the other hand, pomologically speaking, a fruit is an edible, more or less fleshy botanical fruit of a perennial plant
usually used in fresh form. Eggplant and coconut are fruits botanically, but are not fruit pomologically; for an eggplant
is a vegetable and a coconut is a plantation crops.
Ornamental is basically derived from the use of the crop. Thus ornamentals are plants used for their aesthetic
or decorative value. A fruit tree may be considered as an ornamental if it used primarily for decorative purposes.
Plantation crops are crops usually perennial in growth and that require minor changes in the structure of the
produce before utilization. Fruit crops can be consumed in their fresh form, whereas plantation crops have to be
processes before industrial use.

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Activity 1: Answer the following;

1. Make a schematic diagram on horticulture and its branches.
2. Give 5 examples each of ornamental crops, plantation, vegetables and fruit. Give scientific name of each crop.

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 Lesson 2 – Relation of Horticulture to other Sciences
Learning Outcomes
 Determine the relation of horticulture to other sciences.
 Explain the importance of related sciences to horticulture.

Horticulture and to Other Sciences

Horticulture is intimately related to other applied sciences. The more basic sciences like chemistry,
microbiology, genetics, physics and systematics in turn can be viewed as the roots of horticulture, giving life to the
applied sciences.
 Plant breeding – intensive hybridization and selection work is being practiced with very important
horticultural crop. With the intensive application of the laws of genetics, improved plant forms have replaced
the less desirable ones. Better yield, resistance to pest and diseases, new colors, larger foliage, flowers and
fruits, and the different growth habits may now be obtained.
 Plant physiology – plant physiology is the study of processes occurring in plants and the influence of
environmental conditions on these processes. It is intimately related to chemistry because most processes
going on inside the plant are chemical in nature. Physiology also explains what the horticulturist already
knows about the behaviour of the plant materials thus, offers explanations of how and why it works.
 Soil science – proper fertilizer application requires a good understanding of what the soil is and what is going
on in the soil. For example, if a soil for a growing crop low in nitrogen (N0 and organic matter, and the farmer
keeps on applying only inorganic fertilizer like ammonium sulfate, there will come a time when the yield will
decrease because the soil will have become too acidic for the proper growth of the plants.
 Socio – economic – profit is the motive in every business venture. This may be both in terms of monetary and
non – monetary values. Since business is one aspect of horticulture, it is but proper that one should have been
successful. Furthermore, one should know how to deal well with employees.
 Crop protection – this encompasses four disciplines namely: 1) entomology, the study of insects; 2) plant
pathology, the study of plant diseases; 3) weed science, the study of weeds and 4) the study of vertebrate pests
(rodents, bats, etc.). The relationship of these fields of science to horticulture can be easily seen.
 Agricultural engineering – the use of irrigation, farm equipment, farm structures and meteorological data in
horticultural crops all belongs to the study of agricultural engineering. Interplay of various aspects of each
science is needed in order to come up with a technology. While it is true that other sciences are needed in
horticulture, there are things that definitely belong to horticulture alone like pruning.

Opportunities in Horticulture
There are great opportunities in several areas of endeavour for a person knowledgeable in horticulture.
Anyone could be as commercial growers/project managers, teaches, plant breeders, research workers, extension
workers, as parks and recreational area developers and other opportunities (horticultural journalism, food processor).

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Activity 2: Answer the following;

1. In A clean sheet of paper, draw anything that would show/express horticulture, its branches and roots. Anchor
your output in unit 1 lesson 1 and 2.

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