Exploring the Horticulture Field

Defining:• Latin - “Hortus” meaning

garden

• “Culture” meaning cultivation

Today, Hort includes:• cultivation

• processing

• sale of fruits, nuts, veggies, ornamental plants and flowers.

As an industry• horticulture contributes over

$25 billion to the U.S. economy

Major divisions of hort industry

• Pomology - The science and practice of growing, harvesting, handling, storing, processing, and marketing tree fruits

Olericulture• Vegetables

Floriculture• Flowering plants

Ornamental and Landscape

• using grasses, annuals, shrubs, and trees in the landscape

Additional specialized areas

• seed production

Related Occupations• those areas that provide

products and services necessary in the production of hort. Crops.

• Ex: fertilizer, pesticides, containers, machinery,

Related Occupations• research and education

Selecting a Job• in a career, do you desire a

job that involves:

• year round work

• regular hours

• a variety of tasks

Selecting a Job• working in one place

• security of fringe benefits

• working alone

• working with others

Selecting a Job• educational requirements

• guarantee of promotion

Other factors• will the job be challenging• what types of duties does the

job involve• what skills does the job involve• are there jobs available

The future of the hort industry

• currently in a state of rapid growth

• people are becoming more concerned about their surroundings, world resources,

Cont.• conservation, and controlling

pollution

In the future:• more plants will be used to:

• beautify surroundings

• conserve soil and control pollutants

• Protect and feed wildlife

More families• will plant gardens as food

costs increase

The future• looks exceptionally good for

those involved in working with plants and providing goods and services related to horticulture

Production of hort crops

• population increases and people have more leisure time, more gardening of all types will be done

Production of hort crops

• demand for fruits, veggies, ornamentals and landscaping plants will increase

Production of hort crops

• Increase in demand for veggie plants = substantial increase in production business

Service Industries• increased need for fertilizers,

pesticides, seeds, chemicals, tools and equipment

Marketing• more people are employed in

marketing than production

• if marketing increases all other areas will as well

Inspection• government, private

processing

• determine disease and insect problems and peak crop quality

Teaching and Extension Work

• more students need training, requiring more teachers

• quickly changing technology requires specialists and professionals

Research• to increase production,

researchers must:

• develop better varieties

• improve insect and disease resistance

Develop better ways to:

• grow

• harvest

• preserve

• package

• storing and marketing