Horticulturist

- Lou Erickson

But there is much more to horticulture than just planting plants. Horticulturists cultivate plants for human use. They cultivate fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, culinary herbs and non-food crops like flowers, trees and shrubs, turf-grass, hops, medicinal herbs.

Who is a Horticulturist?

Horticulturists are involved in plant propagation and cultivation with the aim of improving plant growth, yields, quality, nutritional value, and resistance to insects, diseases, and environmental stresses. They work as growers, therapists, designers, and technical advisers in the food and non-food sectors of horticulture. A horticultural scientist conduct research in horticulture and encompasses all of the pure sciences – mathematics, physics, chemistry, geology, and biology – and related sciences and technologies that underpin horticulture, such as plant pathology, soil science, entomology, weed science, and many other scientific disciplines. Horticulture Professionals apply their skills in many industries and settings, including private research laboratories, universities, greenhouses, agriculture businesses, and government agencies. Horticulturists usually specialize in particular field. Some do research in particular plant species of family and others do more fundamental research in plant propagation and other areas of interest. It is increasingly getting connected to the Food technology field also as production, harvesting and storing of vegetables all are getting mechanized.