Great opportunities in horticulture boom

For professionally qualified horticulturists there are wide-ranging work options that offer handsome remuneration With an annual growth rate of 30-37 percent, India’s high potential horticulture industry is blooming and is poised for a great leap forward after the opening up of foreign markets post new World Trade Organisation accords and revolutionary advances in greenhouse technology. Giving this industry a big push forward is also the entry of retail giants such as Reliance, Godrej, and Walmart which have established multi-product retail chain stores inter alia offering farm fresh and processed foods to the fast expanding middle class countrywide. For admission into most B.Sc (horticulture) degree or diploma programmes, the minimum eligibility requirement is clearance of Plus Two in science or agriculture with at least 50 percent average. The minimum qualification for admission into Master’s programme in horticulture is a 60 percent plus average while graduating in the same or related streams. Admission to universities could be based upon collegiate exam scores or academic performance in an entrance examination. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (Krishi Anusandhan Bhavan, New Delhi) conducts a pan-India entrance examination for admission into undergraduate courses in agriculture, horticulture, and allied sciences for 15 percent of the total number of seats in state agricultural universities and the Central Agricultural University, Imphal. Among the most reputable universities and colleges of agriculture/ horticulture are: Kerala Agricultural University, Vellanikkara, Thrissur Dr. Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth, Dapoli Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth, Parbhani College of Agriculture, Pune University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru College of Agriculture, Hebbal, Bengaluru Rev. Carey Institute of Horticulture, Kolkata Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan Central Agricultural University, Imphal Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University, Gujarat Institute of Agricultural Sciences, BHU, Varanasi University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad For professionally qualified horticulturists, there are wide-ranging work options (including entrepreneurship) which offer handsome remuneration. They can be gainfully employed in agro-based industries, insecticides, pesticides, and fungicide manufacturing units; and state horticulture and forest departments. Moreover hotels, health farms, holiday resorts, and a growing number of office and residential complexes employ horticulturists to beautify their environments. NEW OPPORTUNITIES. For Indian industry to rise to the new opportunities and challenges in agro-industry and horticulture, in 1998 the Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board (MSAMB) drew up a blueprint of a world-class Horticulture Training Centre (HTC) at Talegaon (near Pune) in collaboration with the Practical Training Centre of the Netherlands and The Netherlands Development Finance Company. “The first of its type in Asia, this centre was promoted in October 2003 and to date has delivered practical training to over 4,800 farmers and other professionals in greenhouse technologies which came to India in the early 1990s. We conduct a week’s residential training programme in Marathi, English, and Hindi throughout the year and attract trainees from all over the country as well as neighbouring countries like Bhutan, Nepal and Pakistan,” say Dr. Suresh Dhumal, a professional hydroponist and former…