BSc Horticulture

Horticulture is the study between science and agriculture. Over the past years, horticulture has become one of the most popular courses in agriculture. There are a lot of opportunities opening up in this career. There are a variety of Horticulture courses available for students. Pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Horticulture is an ideal choice.  Here, in this blog, we discuss all the details related to BSc Horticulture. We have listed all the information you need to know before choosing it as your program and are rid of any confusion that you may have.

Full-Form	Bachelor of Science in Horticulture Science
Level of Study	Undergraduate
Course Duration	3 to 4 years
Admission Process	Both Merit and Entrance Based
Examination type	Semester
Job Options	Plant breeders, marketing managers, gardeners, and agricultural researchers are just a few of the occupations available.
Areas of Employment	Agrochemicals, Agriculture Research Laboratories, Orchids, etc.

Overview of BSc Horticulture

Horticulture focuses on the sustainable development of food and ornamental plants, reducing the degradation of the environment, and gardening. It is a wide course and gives you a huge scope in the area, for example in research, production, and marketing. A degree in horticulture will also open up good career options after graduation. It is close to some of the top agriculture courses and can open a wide variety of options for you. 

Must Read: BSc Agriculture

Why You Can Pursue BSc Horticulture?

You should think about pursuing BSc Horticulture Science since it includes the following advantages:

• Candidates interested in working in agriculture will benefit greatly from this training. This course will teach them how to farm a variety of crop plants.
• Candidates who successfully complete this course will be prepared to undertake any type of agricultural research in the future. They can improve seeds, study breeding conditions, and conduct a variety of other studies.
• Candidates can work on their own farms and horticulture gardens. They can create their own farming companies.
• This course provides numerous opportunities for government careers. Many government agencies and banks hire BSc Horticulture Science graduates.
• Candidates with a degree in Horticulture will always be in demand in the job market because farming will always be an essential sector.

BSc Horticulture Courses

There is a long list of courses that you can pursue while getting a bachelor’s degree in Horticulture. These courses are also beneficial for those who want to build a career in farming. They are mentioned below:

• Floriculture: This course of Horticulture looks at the farming of ornamental flowers, their maintenance, development, and breeding. Floriculture also looks at the production and breeding of new varieties of flowers through mating and other such processes.
• Sericulture:  This course contains the study of the production of various types of silks and the rearing of silkworms. You will learn about different silkworms and their nutrition to rear different qualities of silks. 
• Apiculture: Apiculture refers to the practice of keeping and maintaining bees and their hives for honey, beeswax, jelly and other products. The subject covers the different types of bee species, the difference in their products, and their conservation.
• Organic Farming: This subject deals with the cultivation of plants and rearing of animals in a natural process, devoid of all chemicals and inorganic fertilizers. It aims to ensure minimized pollution, and wastage while maintaining soil fertility and ecological balance.
• Soil Science: Soil science is the study of soil, including soil formation, classification, its fertility, its edaphic factors, mapping, nutrients, soil inventory, land use, and management planning.
• Food Production and Technology: This field of study looks at how food production is affected by various factors like herbicides, pesticides and various gardening tools and equipment. Food Technology also looks at the technical aspects of cultivation and food products such as irrigation, tilling, etc.

BSc Horticulture Syllabus: Semester-Wise

Semester I	Semester II
Elementary Statistics and Mathematics	Tropical and Subtropical Vegetables
Fundamentals of Soil Science	Fundamentals of Plant Breeding
Fundamentals of Economics and Marketing	Soil Fertility and Nutrient Management
Plant Propagation and Nursery Management	Fundamentals of Entomology
Introductory Crop Physiology	Fundamentals of Extension Education
Fundamentals of Horticulture	Fundamentals of Plant Biochemistry
Principles of Landscape Architecture	Orchard and Estate Management
Principles of Genetics and Cytogenetics	Growth and Development of Horticultural Crops
Communication Skills and Personality Development	Introductory Microbiology
Human Values and Ethics	Dryland Horticulture

Semester III	Semester IV
Fundamentals of Plant Pathology	Soil, Water and Plant Analysis
Spices and Condiments	Weed Management of Horticultural Crops
Organic Farming	Tropical and Subtropical Fruits
Nematode Pests of Horticultural Crops and their Management	Ornamental Horticulture
Principles of Plant Biotechnology	Plantation Crops
Temperate Fruit Crops	Farm Machinery and Power
Commercial Floriculture	Diseases of Fruit, Plantation, Medicinal and Aromatic Crops
Environmental Studies and Disaster Management	Insect Pests of Fruit, Plantation, Medicinal & Aromatic Crops
Agri- Informatics and Computer Application	Introductory Agro-meteorology & Climate Change

Semester V	Semester VI
Temperate Vegetable Crops	Insect Pests of Vegetable, Ornamental and Spice Crops
Introduction to Major Field Crops	Apiculture, Sericulture and Lac culture
Medicinal and Aromatic crops	Precision Farming and Protected Cultivation
Seed Production of Vegetable, Tuber and Spice Crops	Introductory Agroforestry
Breeding of Vegetable, Tuber and Spice Crops	Breeding and Seed Production of Flower and Ornamental Plants
Diseases of Vegetables, Ornamentals and Spice Crops	Water Management in Horticultural Crops
Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops	Horti-Business Management
Entrepreneurship Development and Business Management	Potato and Tuber Crops
Processing of Horticultural Crops	Breeding of Fruit and Plantation Crops

Eligibility Criteria for BSc Horticulture

The eligibility criteria need to be qualified by all students who wish to pursue BSc in Horticulture. To study a bachelor’s course in horticulture, you need to be eligible according to the following criteria:

• Candidates must finish a 10+2 program in Science with Biology as one of the required topics.
• The student should have a minimum of 55 per cent in any science stream with Biology as a mandatory subject.
• Candidates must have a cumulative grade point average of more than 50% in class 12. This, however, may differ from one university to the next.
• Candidates must be at least 27 years old. The maximum age restriction varies for each college and is usually between 21 and 24 years old.

BSc Horticulture Admissions

The admission process for BSc Horticulture differs from university to university and as well as the country. The first step is to list out all the universities for the program, check eligibility criteria and fill out the application process. Most universities across the globe require students to have a background in science with subjects like Biology, Physics, and Chemistry to pursue this course. Once you have checked all the requirements, then prepare for entrance exams like IELTS, TOEFL, PTE, etc. The universities take roughly 2 weeks to review an application and revert back to students on their offer.

B.Sc Horticulture Science: Entrance Exams

Below is a list of some of the most significant BSc Horticulture entrance examinations.

Exam	Conducting Body	Mode of Exam
HORTICET	YSR Horticultural University	Offline
CGPAT	Chhattisgarh Professional Examination Board	Offline
UPCATET	CSAUAT Kanpur	Offline

B.Sc Horticulture Syllabus & Subjects

The following table shows the semester-by-semester breakdown of the subjects taught in the BSc Horticulture Course.

Semester 1	Semester 2
Elementary Statistics and Mathematics	Tropical and Subtropical Vegetables
Fundamentals of Soil Science	Fundamentals of Plant Breeding
Fundamentals of Economics and Marketing	Soil Fertility and Nutrient Management
Plant Propagation and Nursery Management	Fundamentals of Entomology
Introductory Crop Physiology	Fundamentals of Extension Education
Fundamentals of Horticulture	Fundamentals of Plant Biochemistry
Principles of Landscape Architecture	Orchard and Estate Management
Principles of Genetics and Cytogenetics	Growth and Development of Horticultural Crops
Communication Skills and Personality Development	Introductory Microbiology
Human Values and Ethics	Dryland Horticulture
Semester 3	Semester 4
Fundamentals of Plant Pathology	Soil, Water, and Plant Analysis
Spices and Condiments	Weed Management of Horticultural Crops
Organic Farming	Tropical and Subtropical Fruits
Nematode Pests of Horticultural Crops and their Management	Ornamental Horticulture
Principles of Plant Biotechnology	Plantation Crops
Temperate Fruit Crops	Farm Machinery and Power
Commercial Floriculture	Diseases of Fruit, Plantation, Medicinal and Aromatic Crops
Environmental Studies and Disaster Management	Insect Pests of Fruit, Plantation, Medicinal & Aromatic Crops
Agri- Informatics and Computer Application	Introductory Agro-meteorology & Climate Change
Semester 5	Semester 6
Temperate Vegetable Crops	Insect Pests of Vegetable, Ornamental, and Spice Crops
Introduction to Major Field Crops	Apiculture, Sericulture and Lac culture
Medicinal and Aromatic crops	Precision Farming and Protected Cultivation
Seed Production of Vegetable, Tuber, and Spice Crops	Introductory Agroforestry
Breeding of Vegetable, Tuber, and Spice Crops	Breeding and Seed Production of Flower and Ornamental Plants
Diseases of Vegetables, Ornamentals, and Spice Crops	Water Management in Horticultural Crops
Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops	Horti-Business Management
Entrepreneurship Development and Business Management	Potato and Tuber Crops
Processing of Horticultural Crops	Breeding of Fruit and Plantation Crops
Semester 7	Semester 8
Student Project	Student Project

Top Colleges in India 

There are a host of top colleges in India which offer a BSc in Horticulture for interested students. You can check out the colleges over here: 

• Amity University
• Banaras Hindu University 
• Indian Agricultural Research Institute
• Tamil Nadu Agricultural University
• Mewar University
• Anbil Dharmalingam Agricultural College and Research Institute
• Punjab Agricultural University
• Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology
• University of Calcutta
• Birsa Agricultural University
• Mumbai University
• Junagadh Agricultural University

Also Read: MSc Agriculture

BSc Horticulture Colleges Abroad

BSc Horticulture is very popular abroad also. Many students, as well as international students, wish to pursue this course. We have prepared a list of the top colleges abroad for you to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Horticulture. You can have a look here:

Name of University	QS Rankings 2021
University of Reading	205
Oklahoma State University	–
Michigan State University	157
Aarhus University	147
University of Wisconsin-Madison	65
ETH Zurich	6
University of British Columbia	45
Ghent University	=135

Career Options After BSc Horticulture

You must be very intrigued to know the various jobs to know whether or not to pursue horticulture as your ideal course.

• Horticulturist: Horticulturists deal with various plants, fruits, vegetables, ornamental plants, non-food crops, and medicinal plants to increase their quality, and productivity or maintain their health. Horticulturists can work at research centres, vineyards, fruit orchards, farmlands, etc. The salary of a horticulturist is around 2.5 to 7.0 lakhs INR per annum.
• Plantation Manager: Plantation managers are responsible for organising, supervising and planning the requirements needed in the farm or in research institutes. They mainly focus on increasing production while maintaining low costs. The salary of plantation managers is around 7 to 10 lakhs INR per annum. 
• Soil Scientists: Soil scientists deal with the study of various types of soil, and investigate and improve the quality. They also do research on how to reduce environmental degradation. They work in close contact with horticulturists while producing advantageous plants. The salary of a soil scientist in India is around 4.5 to 6 Lakhs INR per annum.
• Plant Geneticist: Plant geneticists conduct research to improve the plants’ characteristics by breeding and getting better genes. They focus on improving shape, size, production level, pesticide, disease tolerance, drought tolerance and high nutrient value. The salary of a soil scientist in India is around 3.5 to 7 Lakhs INR per annum.
• Pomologist:  Pomologist is responsible to ensure the growth and breeding of fruits and nuts, increasing their quality and quantity, and maintain the plants with proper enrichments and nutrients. And packaging and shipping of fruits. They can work at orchards, farms, research facilities, etc. The salary of a pomologist in India is around 4 to 6 Lakhs INR per annum.

Job Profiles

• Plant Breeder
• Product Marketing Manager
• Gardener
• Agricultural Researcher
• Teacher
• Farming Educators

FAQs

Explore: Agriculture Colleges in India

BSc Horticulture course helps you explore the expansive field of Horticulture and bring out an immense range of career prospects as well. If you are curious about the application process of your chosen course in Horticulture, our experts at  Leverage Edu can assist you throughout the process of filling out applications and getting successfully shortlisted in your dream university. Sign up for a free session today!