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Importance of Horticulture, Lecture 2

Horticulture has many important benefits: 1) It provides economic value by allowing for increased and multiple crop production from the same land, providing higher incomes than agriculture. It also creates jobs and opportunities for related agro-industries. 2) Horticulture crops have dietary and medicinal importance, as fruits and vegetables contain nutrients and can be used to make medicines, while gardens provide entertainment and mental relaxation. 3) Horticulture enhances the environment, cleans air, prevents erosion, and provides shade and nutrition from trees. It also has aesthetic and religious significance in many cultures.

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Abdullah Al Mamun
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640 views

Importance of Horticulture, Lecture 2

Horticulture has many important benefits: 1) It provides economic value by allowing for increased and multiple crop production from the same land, providing higher incomes than agriculture. It also creates jobs and opportunities for related agro-industries. 2) Horticulture crops have dietary and medicinal importance, as fruits and vegetables contain nutrients and can be used to make medicines, while gardens provide entertainment and mental relaxation. 3) Horticulture enhances the environment, cleans air, prevents erosion, and provides shade and nutrition from trees. It also has aesthetic and religious significance in many cultures.

Uploaded by

Abdullah Al Mamun
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Importance of Horticulture

Definition of Horticulture

Importance of Horticulture

• Diet
• Entertainment
• Medicinal purposes
• Environment
• Aesthetic value
• Economic value

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Economic Importance
i) Increased production possible in comparison to other Agronomical crops because trees have a
longer life and their production increases with advancement in age provided a proper care is
taken. Similarly vegetables can also be grown 3 to 4 times each year giving the products all the
time they are grown. More number of crops can be grown from same piece of land.

ii) More profitable since the average income per unit area is more in horticulture crops than
agriculture crops e.g.
Fruits Income ( in taka) / year / hectare
Mango - 62000- 63000
Papaya- 20000
Guava -40000- 50000

iii) With the support of horticulture, many agro – industries can spring up in villages itself. It is
an acceptable fact that horticulture can come in a big way to solve the problem of
unemployment. Source of other industries e.g. rubber, oil, gum, dyes, chemicals etc. raw material
for fruit and vegetable processing plants, hence becomes a solution to reduce unemployment.

iv) Employment is also generated in doing field operations like fruit picking / harvesting,
grading, packing, selling etc. In cereals labor engagement is of 143 days and in fruits it is of 850
days ( in intensively grown fruits like grapes, banana and pineapple it is 1000 to 2500 man-days).

v)Dependence on cereals can be decreased since the fruits and vegetables provide almost every
nutrient and mineral required for the human body as the food.

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vi)Foreign exchange can be earned by exporting the fruits and vegetables and their quality
products e.g. mango, almond, saffron etc. Products like jams, jelly, pickles etc. are exported and
similarly making them indigenously thus saving the foreign exchange minimizes the import of
horticulture-based products.

Areas related to horticulture for providing employment


• Fruit cultivation
• Vegetable cultivation
• Plantation and spice crop cultivation
• Vegetable F1 seed production
• Vegetable and flower seed production for export
• Cut flower production and floriculture
• Landscaping
• Nursery raising
• Tissue culture
• Marketing
• Processing of horticulture produce
• Government development departments
• Ancillary services (fertilizers, tools, insecticides –pesticides , irrigation equipment's, chemicals
like growth regulators etc. –manufacture , sale essence and consultancy services)
• Research and education

Entertainment
Roaming in the gardens, orchards or places well planted with flowerbeds etc. gives mental piece
to the persons. One enjoys fresh air and natural beauty, sheds of tension making him fresh.

Medicines
• The parts like stem, leaf, flowers, roots and even the fruits of horticulture plants are used to
make drugs, chemicals, insecticides, germicides etc. e.g. rose water is used to cure eyes ailments.
. Similarly saffron is important ingredient of many medicines.
• Papain is a digestive enzyme, citrus fruit like sweet lime is used for liver ailment, rind of
pomegranate and pectin from guava used for stomach upset, bark of arjun trees for heart
troubles, neem water for skin irritation and allergies etc.

Aesthetic value and religious importance


Aesthetic value and religious importance is the unique factor distinguishing it from agricultural
activities.
• Mango leaves, wood, banana leaves etc. are used for religious functions.
• Similarly the plantation of banana tree in the court yard or tulsi plantation is said to bring
prosperity as per Hindu religion.
• This aspect of horticulture has lead to its universal popularity.
• Paradise means garden. The hanging garden of Babylon (one of the 7th wonders of the world)
and the Versailles garden of 17th century are unique examples.

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Environmental Appearance:

Provide health and comfort by

 Cleaning the air


 Preventing erosion
 Providing shade
 Providing nutrition

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