50 Examples of Horticulture (horticultural crops) - encyclopedia

Video: Introduction To Horticulture Part 1

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Horticulturists
Types of horticulture
Characteristics of horticultural crops
Classification of horticultural crops

The horticulture It is the science that takes care of everything related to vegetables. This ranges from the technology required for sowing, care, harvest, distribution, price and subsequent consumption.

From the strict point of view of the word “horticulture”Is defined as the land where the vegetables or crops are sown. This land can be extensive (that is, have hundreds of hectares) or only have a few meters.

The horticulture is everything that refers to the care of vegetables regardless of the moment of the process in which they are.

Horticulturists

Horticulturists are those people who are in charge of making the necessary improvements to make the crops more profitable. For this purpose, specialized fertilizers, fumigators (to prevent the spread of insects and pests that harm planting), types of garden irrigation, suitable weather conditions, etc. are used.

Genetic manipulation

Some decades ago, the genetic manipulation as a fundamental tool to favor the development of plants and that they can cope with pests and diseases that commonly threaten planting of any kind.

Types of horticulture

There is an organization that regulates everything related to horticulture. This organization is called International Society for Horticultural Sciences (SICH). This society has determined that, within horticulture, different types of horticulture can be differentiated:

Floriculture. It is the part of horticulture that deals with flowers and plants that are planted for ornamental purposes. That is, its sale in nurseries is used to decorate them both indoors and in gardens or parks.
Olericulture. It is that area within the horticulture in charge of the vegetables whether they are roots, tubers, leaves or fruits.
FRUITCULTURE. It is the area in charge of the fruits.
Aromatic and medicinal species. They are those areas that are responsible for the production and commercialization of aromatic species such as rosemary, lavender, lemon grass, etc.

Characteristics of horticultural crops

Unlike other types of crops, horticultural crops have some characteristics that differentiate them from the rest:

They contain a high percentage of water (between 90 and 95%)
With technological advances, it is intended that the period from sowing to harvest is shorter and shorter to maximize consumption. Anyway, this point depends on each species of vegetable itself and the growing time before harvest.
They do not need large areas of land (although the more extensive these are, the more they can be sown).

Classification of horticultural crops

For scientific rigor. This classification takes into account morphological, systematic and physiological issues specific to each crop.
By practical order. The aim here is to make the most of each crop as possible.
Biological type. It takes into account the place or site of the sowing of the crops. For example, type of weather, amount of rainfall, weather changes, etc.

Another possible classification of horticultural crops is based on the depth given by the root extension. This extension takes into account not only the type of vegetables but also the type of soil, since often a very clayey type of soil prevents the root from growing too much.

According to this classification, vegetables can be divided into 3 large groups:

Superficial roots (between 45 and 60 cm). Among these are: