Do you think you can spend hours tending to plants so that they bloom just right? Consider a career in horticulture
How often have you thought about the fact that there is not enough green cover in our city? Have you ever brought home a dying plant to revive it and watch is blossom over the months? Well, you know that the world would be nothing without plants. They are the primary source of food and oxygen, besides providing the much needed respite from excessive heat, not to mention the calming effect they have on us.
If you are a person who appreciates the role plants play in your life, then a career in horticulture might be just what you would like. It is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation, whether we talk about fruits, vegetables, herbs flowers or anything else.
Most often, the value of an industry is based on money, and the horticulture industry world over, and in India, has great economic value. However, it is important to know that horticulture has other values as well. The Indian horticulture industry is be well fuelled by consumer wants and needs.
There is a demand for high quality products, with demand for good quality seeds to cater to a rapidly expanding market. Consumers are demanding quality for money, especially when it comes to flowers. Now, a single rose is passe, there is a need for a creatively made bouquet consisting of several varieties of flowers. Flowers are playing an increasingly important role in the sector, with increasing numbers of consumers opting to give flowers to mark celebrations. Reportedly, India is the second largest producer of horticulture products in world (fruits and vegetables) behind China.
Graduates with a degree in horticulture enter a broad range of challenging and rewarding professional careers in production, management, marketing, education and research.
Gone are the days when you could easily work in this sector without a professional qualification. Especially if you want to reach professional heights, you need to have studied the field and acquired as much knowledge as possible. You education will depend on various factors like your motive, your interest, and your idea of your career path.
Courses are available at the undergraduate level for those students who have decided early on. Aspirants need to have passed the class 12 (HSC or equivalent) examinations in the science stream with physics, chemistry and maths/ biology/ agriculture. With this you can pursue a bachelor’s degree in horticulture. For pursuing a diploma programme, the entry requirement is the same – passing class 12 exams in science with the aforementioned subjects. Further education is possible with an MSc in Horticulture.
Horticulture courses include subject areas of plant propagation, plant materials, tissue culture, crop production, post-harvest handling, plant breeding, pollination management, crop nutrition, entomology, plant pathology, economics, and business.
Apart from studying the subject in a course, there is an inherent need for a love of nature and the outdoors for those who are interested in this field. Other personal qualities depend on the specific career path you choose. If your area of interest is research or teaching you require the ability to communicate, to provide practical and factual information in simple language, patience and ability to infuse enthusiasm for learning in students, work for long periods with intense concentration, a keen analytical mind, and a strong scientific bent, eye for detail etc. is essential.
Meenal Doshi / HSC student
Within this year, I have to make a decision regarding my further study and I want to pick something that I can love doing my entire life. My parents and I both know that engineering and medicine are not for me, and so they are set in their minds that I will go in for a BSc and then move on to research after my MSc. I do not want such a drab job. I want more physical work, movement and excitement. One of the options I read online was about horticulture, and I do not know much about it in terms of a career. Can you explain?
Professional Pranita Thakkar answers: The field is great in terms of job security and earnings because India is the second largest producer of horticulture products in the world. Creatively, it has very satisfying. Also, there is such diversity – you can be a hands-on gardener, a hard core plant scientist or a garden designer! The sky is the limit. This field offers a contemporary, challenging career and there are people with incredible skills and energy involved. Horticulture can have such a positive effect – as well as the personal enjoyment you can get out of growing plants, there are also social benefits. Green spaces and trees planted in towns can increase the serenity and help combat stress.
Sheena Mehrotra, Horticulture student
Can you imagine the carved landscape in any hilly region or in a resort? It perhaps is the work of a horticulturist. Students in this field learn a variety of skills and work a lot outdoors. But nothing compares to fieldtrips that we take as part of our curriculum.
To learn how to implement a horticulture programme at a professional level is something all students strive for, and when you get that opportunity from a professional organisation, the experience and satisfaction cannot be substituted by anything else. The goal is to incorporate horticulture into the mindset of those running the show, so that they can understand the importance of the greenery around them.
Often, we head to the interior or rural parts of the country where the fields are, and help farmers and cultivators work on their produce as part of our service projects. It is heartening to see how small changes lead to bigger measures for them in the long run. They are grateful for any benefit they might derive, and we get an open landscape to try our knowledge.
In the urban areas, I love creating a design on paper and then seeing it all the way through, such as getting it approved by the client, meeting with the contractors and finally installing the plants in the area or the patch.
Graduates in this field can enter into a challenging career and can often open their own business enterprises as well. This can be in diverse fields such as fruit or vegetable production, landscape design or even building and maintaining nurseries, greenhouses and garden centres for others.
Due to the increasing popularity of this field, there are many job opportunities for graduate and postgraduate students of the discipline. Qualified horticulturists can enter into various fields in industry, government or educational institutions or private concerns.
There are many areas of work – including agribusiness, botanical gardens, conservation, crop management, floral design, food chemistry, fruit and vegetable production, garden centres, greenhouses, grounds management, landscape construction and management, nurseries, management and sales, marketing/public relations, research and development, teaching/instruction, technical writing and publishing.
Another option for graduates is being self-employed, as consultants, or floral decorators, etc. In addition, there are numerous opportunities in research. There is always a need to improve the quality and yield of the seeds and therefore horticulturists work in conjunction with other professionals in developing such tools and products.
The pay packets in this field depend on many factors, including education, experience and expertise. The geographic location also matters in this field. Many professionals make a better package in the private sector than the public sector. For new graduates, the salary in horticulture may range from Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 25,000 per month in a good corporation. After two to three years of experience in the field, one can earn up to Rs. 35,000 per month. This field provides rewards such as freedom to work independently or as a team, opportunity to be in a pleasant outdoor world and satisfaction.
Pranita Thakkar / Horticulturist
Persistence and patience are key to be successful in this colourful field. And of course, you have to love your subject – if you are genuinely enthusiastic about something it will help you go a long way. Your passion will guide you in whatever you do, and in the end it will also enable you to earn the remuneration that you thought you would.
I wanted to be among plants although I did not know the word horticulturist from a long time. Perhaps since I was 12 or 13. My parents always thought it was a passing phase and laughed it off, until they realised that I was serious. I proved my passion to them by taking time out to learn at the neighbourhood nursery and then cultivating some potted plants at home. This made them come around. I made may contacts during the course of my career and learned a lot.
I had met a lady at the nursery who went on to become my mentor. She would show me the effect of different products on the plants and helped me understand the value of nurturing. She was passionate about growing flowers, and said all one needed was a single look to improve your day. She would go that extra length to explain why she was doing things in a certain way.
