Horticulture and it’s Role in the Indian Economy

Horticulture is the practice of producing, improving, and utilizing horticulture crops such as fruits, vegetables, and flowers. The term ‘Horticulture’ is derived from the Latin words ‘Hortus’ means garden and ‘cultura’ means cultivation. India is one of the largest, low-cost producers of fruits and vegetables in the world. Agriculture is the dominant sector of the Indian Economy.

Horticulture farming aims to improve the quality of life, as well as sustainability, beauty, and recovery of the ecosystem and the human condition. Plants and green space help to sustain lives with the provision of healthy food, beautification of homes, and also lowering carbon footprints.

Horticulture

Horticulture

It refers to the cultivation of crops in an enclosure ex: garden cultivation. Intensive care is essential when planting horticulture crops, managing them, growing them, harvesting, packaging, storing, marketing, and processing them. India occupies the second position in the cultivation of fruits and vegetables after China with horticulture crops contributing about 28 percent to India’s Gross Domestic Product(GDP). A substantial amount of agriculture is also exported and also provides key inputs to food industries.

Classifications of Horticulture

• Pomology: The term is derived from the Latin phrases Poma and Logus. Poma means ‘fruit’ and logos means ‘study’ so, pomology means the scientific study of fruits. Planting, harvesting, storing, processing and advertising, and marketing fruits and nut crops.
• Floriculture: The term Floriculture is derived from the Latin words ‘Florus’ meaning Flower and ‘cultura’ meaning cultivation. It is a department of horticulture that offers the cultivation of flowers and ornamental crops.
• Olericulture: The term Olericulture is derived from the Latin words ‘Olerus’ which means vegetables and ‘cultura’ means cultivation. It is a department of horticulture that deals with the study of green vegetable cultivation.
• Arboriculture: The research of selecting and caring for shrubs, timber, and woody plants refers to Arboriculture. 

Features of Horticulture

Horticulture crops perform a crucial role in the enhancement of the Indian economy by creating jobs, producing raw materials for food industries, and gaining high profits for foreign investors. Some features of horticulture crops are:

• They are prosperous in proteins, nutrients, minerals, flavor, aroma, and dietary fibers.
• They incorporate fitness-benefiting medicines and compounds.
• This vegetation can be cultivated in poor-quality soil or wasteland.
• These plants have comparatively greater manufacturing per unit area when compared to field crops.
• These crops possess national and international demand.

Some Important crops cultivated using Horticulture and  their growing regions

The following table consists of states and crop details which are cultivated using horticulture.

State	Crops
Punjab	Citrus fruits
Jammu and Kashmir	Apple
Uttarakhand	potato
Uttar Pradesh	Mango, potato, watermelon, jasmine, bottle gourd
Rajasthan	Pomegranate
Andhra Pradesh	Mango, banana, grapes, citrus fruits, coconut, chili, tomato, jasmine
Kerala	Banana, coconut, sweet potato, jasmine
Telangana	Tomato, citrus fruits, Mango
Tamil Nadu	Papaya, banana, sapota, coconut, jasmine,

Significance of Horticulture To the Indian Economy

Horticulture vegetation cultivation performs a principal function in the Indian financial system with the aid of imparting employment and providing raw materials to food processing industries and it also offers greater manufacturing so that it gives higher profitability and export earnings from overseas exchanges. In the last few decades, this field had gained more prominence by contributing to the gross domestic product(GDP). It has emerged as a foremost source for increasing income, poverty alleviation, and employment generation. Over 7 percent of cropped area is cultivated for horticulture crops in 24 million hectares. India is the greatest producer of Okra and stands at the 2nd position in the cultivation of vegetables like potatoes, cauliflower, brinjal, etc. India stands at 1st rank in the cultivation of fruits such as mango, banana, guava, lemon, and papaya. The cultivation of fruits and vegetables has dominated the cultivation of food grains in India.

It affords huge employment opportunities such as running a nursery, Turf grass operation, and florist operation. Horticulture contributes 6% to GDP and it adds to 1/3 of the whole agricultural output. Horticulture has become significant in monetary growth and accomplishments in Indian states, as the division of horticulture of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research(ICAR) is performing its duties proactively. Indian horticulture sector produces around 320 million tons of merchandise and contributes about 33% of complete gross value addition(GVA).

India can become a bigger cultivator and exporter if the government provides the required allocation, develops the infrastructure, technological upgrades, and a better policy framework for the horticulture sector.

Conclusion

Horticulture is the study of plant science which includes both science and aesthetics of plants. It refers to the science as well as arts of growing and development of commercial crops and help to increase plant production, marketing and quality of life.

FAQs on Horticulture and its Role in the Indian Economy

Q 1. What is the major importance of horticulture?

Answer-

The essential importance of horticulture are gender equality, technological innovations and information access.

Q 2. How can horticulture be improved?

Answers-

By development of improved crop management systems, promote the neglected and underutilized horticultural crops and by increasing knowledge exchange.

Q 3. What are the major horticulture-produced states in India?

Answer-

Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram.