Horticulture, literally a garden culture that primarily differs from agriculture.

They differ in
two ways. First, horticulture generally encompasses a smaller scale of cultivation, using
small plots of mixed crops rather than large fields of single crops. Secondly, horticultural
cultivations generally include a wide variety of crops, even including fruit trees with ground
crops while agricultural cultivations, however as a rule focus on one primary crop. But still,
horticulture is part of crop agriculture that also includes agronomy and forestry. By tradition,
horticulture deals with garden crops such as fruits, nuts, vegetables, culinary herbs and
spices which are directly used by man for food, beverage crops, and those used for
medicinal purposes, as well as flowers and ornamental plants for aesthetic uses or visual
enjoyment. Agronomy is involved with grains, pasture grasses and forages, oilseeds, fiber
crops, and industrial crops such as sugarcane, while forestry is involved with trees grown for
timber and fiber as well as the incidental wildlife. The edible horticultural crops are used
entirely as human food and are often utilized in the living state and thus highly perishable. In
contrast, edible agronomic crops are often utilized in the nonliving state, are highly
processed, are often used for animal feed, and usually contain a high percentage of dry
matter. The precise distinction between horticultural and agronomic crops is traditional. In
general, horticultural crops are intensively cultivated and warrant a large input of capital,
labor, and technology per unit area of land, but in modern agriculture, horticultural crops
may be extensively grown while many agronomic crops are now intensively cultivated. Many
crops are claimed by more than one discipline. Horticulture is practiced in large agricultural
operations, in small farm enterprises, and in home gardens. Because it is widely used in the
industry horticulture is associated with a number of intensive practices that collectively
make up the horticultural arts. These include various propagation techniques incorporating
special plant structures such as bulbs, corms, or runners; the use of layers or cuttings;
budding and grafting; and micropropagation involving tissue culture. Cultural practices
include soil preparation, direct planting or transplanting; fertilization; weed, disease, and
pest control; training and pruning; the use of controlled environments such as greenhouses
or plastic tunnels; applications of chemical growth regulators; various harvest and handling
methods; and various postharvest treatments to extend shelf life. Other practices associated
with horticulture are breeding and genetic techniques for crop improvement, marketing
methods, and food processing. Ornamental horticulture, not considered here, includes added
practices associated with landscape architecture and the floral arts. While horticulture is an
ancient art with many of its practices empirically derived, present-day horticultural arts are
intimately associated with science, so that modern horticultural science is one of the most
advanced parts of agriculture. Recently some horticultural growers have attempted to
reduce or even eliminate reliance on inorganic fertilizers and pesticides through the
incorporation of ecologically based practices (integrated crop management). Moreover,
these horticultural growers are what we called the horticulturists who are skilled and
knowledgeable in all areas of horticulture. They apply their knowledge, skills, and
technologies used to grow intensively produced plants for human food and non-food uses
and for personal or social needs. Their work involves plant propagation and cultivation with
the aim of improving plant growth, yields, quality, nutritional value, and resistance to
insects, diseases, and environmental stresses. Most horticulturists work outside, in
greenhouses, or in labs, depending on their specialized work. In general, working in
horticulture involves a lot of hands-on work. Whether planting, pruning, or harvesting, there
is a lot of physical work involved. While horticulturists tend to keep regular hours, their
workload gets busier during the planting and harvesting seasons. Because of them,
horticulture plays a key role in the Feed the Future Initiative with investments that seek to
realize the opportunities of horticultural development, improve food security, nutrition and
human health, provide opportunities for diversification of income and lastly, advance
economic and social conditions of the rural poor, particularly women.