Principles of Horticulture

Prof.S ESWARA REDDY

 Nature of horticultural crops
They are high input demanding crops.
Water is the major constituent
Usually they are utilized in fresh state.
Thus great care not to make injuries
and not to contaminate with
toxic/poisonous chemicals
Give high yield per unit area
Most of them are perishable
CLASSIFICATION OF
HORTICULTURAL CROPS
Plants are grouped to help us
communicate similar ecological
adaptations and cultural requirement
1. Classification by Use
I. Edibles
A. Fruits
B. Vegetables
C. Herbs
D. Nuts: Entire fruit with hard shell
CLASSIFICATION cont
II. Ornamentals/Landscape Plants
A. Woody plants
1) Trees
2) Shrubs
3) Vines and ground covers
B. Herbaceous plants
1) Flowers
2) Vines and ground covers
C. Grass/turf
III. Potted plants, houseplants, gift plants
A. Flowering gift plants
B. Foliage plants
CLASSIFICATION cont
2. Classification by Climatic Requirements
A. Tropical: plants originate in tropical climates with
a year-round summer-like growing season without
freezing temperatures. Examples include banana,
mango, papaya, and pineapple.
B. Sub-tropical plants cannot tolerate severe winter
temperatures but need some winter chilling.
Examples include citrus, avocado, dates, figs, and
olives.
C. Temperate-zone plants require a cold winter
season as well as a summer growing season, and are
adapted to survive temperatures considerably below
freezing. Examples include apples, cherries, peaches
apple
cherry
peach
CLASSIFICATION cont
A. Cool season plants thrive in cool
temperatures (40F to 70F daytime
temperatures) and are somewhat
tolerant of light frosts. Examples
include peas, lettuce.
B. Warm season plants thrive in warm
temperatures (65F to 90F daytime
temperatures) and are intolerant of cool
temperatures. Examples include
tomatoes, and squash.
squash
CLASSIFICATION cont
3. Classification by Stem and Leaf
Texture
A. Herbaceous plants have non-woody
stems.
B. Woody plants have woody stems that
generally live for several years, adding
new growth each year.
CLASSIFICATION cont
A. Deciduous plants shed all leaves at
approximately the same time annually.
B. Evergreen plants retain some leaves
longer than one growing season so that
leaves are present throughout the year.
Seasonal drop of some of the oldest interior
leaves is a natural part of the life cycle.
C. Semi-evergreen plants that may retain
their leaves, depending on the winter
temperature and moisture.
CLASSIFICATION cont
4. Classification by Growth Habit
Growth habit refers to the genetic tendency
of a plant to grow in a certain shape and to
attain a certain mature height and spread.
A. Trees typically have a single trunk and
mature height over 12 feet.
B. Shrubs typically have multiple-branches
from the ground and a mature height less
than 12 feet.
C. Vines have a climbing, clasping, or self-
clinging growth habit.
CLASSIFICATION cont
5. Classification by Life Span
From a horticultural perspective, life span is a function of
climate and usage.
A. Annuals complete their life cycle (from seedling to
setting seed) within a single growing season.
B. Biennials complete their life cycle within two growing
seasons. Biennials germinate from seed during the
growing season and often produce an over-wintering
storage root or bulb the first summer. They flower and
develop seeds the second summer, followed by death.
C. Perennials live through several growing seasons, and
can survive a period of dormancy between growing
seasons. These plants regenerate from root systems or
protected buds, in addition to seeds.
IMPORTANCE AND PROBLEMS OF
HORTICULTURAL CROPS
PRODUCTION IN ETHIOPIA

What are important ????

Importance
Nutritional value:
fruits, vegetables and tuber crops are excellent
sources of vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates.
Fruits like avocado are also good sources of
monounsaturated fats which is free from
cholesterols.
Medicinal value:
fruits, vegetables and spices and herbs have
undeniable medicinal value directly or
indirectly as an in gradient of drugs.
E.g Garlic, guava, ginger etc
Importance
Economical value:
Horticultural crops give highest yield per unit
of land.
Besides its contribution to achieve food
security, it creates jobs and generates new
sources of income for farmers.
It is also a good source of foreign currency.
Raw materials:
horticultural crops are raw materials for value
added products of cosmetic industries, food
industries, drink industries, perfumes etc.
Importance
Decorative and shade values:
fruit trees provide shade for animals and
shade loving crops and beautify the
landscape as a result increase property
value.
Soil and water conservation:
by their canopy they reduce the force of rain
and by their roots they hold soil particles not
to be washed by rain water and wind.
They also reduce evapo-transpiration of
moisture from the surface of the soil.
Importance
Fuel wood and construction:
some fruits like mango can be used as a
source of fuel wood and construction
materials.

Status of horticultural production in

Ethiopia????
Horticultural crops production in
Ethiopia
Horticultural crops production is not
new for Ethiopia.
But the attention given from the
government side and by the producers
was less few years ago.
The production status of this very
important sector is not satisfactory yet.
The total area covered by horticultural
crops is very low
0.17 0.17 0.46 1.29 1.43 1.51 3.92 Hops
Sugar Cane
6.07
Vegetables
13.81 Chat
Fruit Crops
Root Crops
Coffee
Oilseeds
91.06
Pulses
Grain Crops
Constraints of horticultural crops in
Ethiopia????
Constraints
1. Poor knowledge of the society about the
nutritional values of fruits and vegetables:
Fruit consumption is considered as a luxurious
consumption not as a basic necessity.
However, consumption of fruits and vegetables
should be considered as a basic consumption
2. No certified seed producer
3. Narrow genetic base: Most of horticultural
crops are exotic.
Thus there is problem of adaptation to the local
conditions.
Narrow genetic base is a barrier breeding.
Constraints
4. Lack of planting materials and
production technologies:
Limited number of varieties, production
packages and insufficient number of
nurseries
5. Poor marketing and infrastructure
facilities
6. Lack of appropriate technological
packages (adaptable verities, planting
time and fertilizer types and levels)
Constraints
7. Lack of skilled manpower:
horticulture is labor intensive sector.
The production processes like
propagation, pruning, harvesting and
post harvest handling system requires
some special skill.
8. Diseases and pests:
most horticultural crops are exotic and
very delicate thus are liable to varieties
of diseases and pests.
Constraints
9. Lack of appropriate post harvest
technologies:
Fresh fruits are inherently perishable.
The problem of post-harvest handling of
fruits and vegetables is that they are
living structures.
Post harvest los is the biggest loss
after incurring high investment cost.
 4. Methods of Establishing and
Managing Horticultural Crops
Establishment of a successful
horticultural crop farms require careful
planning.
Planning of horticultural crops farm is
associated with selection, layout, land
preparation, and planting is important if
the farm is to produce at maximum
capacity.
 Methods cont
1. Site Selection

Criteria for site selection????

Horticu
ltural
crops
handlin
g
facilitie
s
 Methods cont
2. Crop Selection
Grower profit and loss are affected by
uncontrollable factors including:
weather, market fluctuations, pest
infestations and legislation.
Therefore, growers must pay close
attention to variables which they can
control.
 Methods cont
Selection of horticultural crops kinds and
varieties for production is the initial step in the
development of a successful farming
operation.
Although horticultural crops are widely
adaptable, successful production in a given
area will be influenced by the following limiting
factors: water, temperature, light, and soil.
Therefore, crop selection on the availability of
these factors within a given location and
growing season is essential.
Methods of Crop Establishment
There are two basic methods of
establishing horticultural crops in field
situations:
direct-seeding (seeds)
transplanting seedlings
Choice of the crop establishment
method will depend upon the crop, the
market windows, cost and availability of
seeds and specialized equipment.
 Cont
A. Direct Seeding
Well prepared field is required for good crop
establishment
Because most vegetable seeds are relatively
small, they do not have sufficient emergence
strength to push through deep soil.
This is especially true under cold, wet soil
conditions.
Seeds planted too shallow often dry out too
rapidly causing poor germination.
 Cont
B. Transplanting
There are five primary advantages to
transplanting:
1). Enhanced earlier harvest
2) Reduced impact of adverse environmental
conditions during the early seedling growth;
3) Reduces seed quantity needed for crop
establishment
4) Enhanced plant stands and faster maturity
and
5) Eliminates thinning needs.
 3. Land preparation
Site Clearing
If the land is not cultivated or cropped,
all trees and shrubs should be removed
before the actual planting or sowing
started.
All the perennial weeds should be dug
out.
All ridges and furrows in cropped land
should be leveled.
 3. Land preparation cont
Terracing and Irrigation
After clearing, leveling the area and, if
necessary, build up the terraces.
Carefully avoid the complete removal of the
topsoil during the process of leveling and
terrace making.
This can happen where the soil depth is
shallow.
It is an important task in every farm to secure
access to the farm area so that the site build
up continues with road and footpath sitting.
 3. Land preparation cont
Installation of irrigation pipes,
digging pits for compost, construction
of permanent irrigation channels should
be done prier to planting or sowing of
horticultural crops.
Fencing: Thorn fencing or Mud wall or
wire fencing or Hedges fencing should
be done before sowing or planting to
prevent entry of animals and cattle as
well as human thieves
 3. Land preparation cont
Farm building: Farm building should be
planned before sowing or planting because
construction may delay sowing or planting.
The building should be near to farm road or
path and constructed fairly central in farm.
Preparation of the soil: Soil should be
cultivated deeply after removing the trees
and shrubs and leveled thoroughly.
Several steps are required to develop
smooth seed beds.
 3. Land preparation cont
Laying out the planting field
The measurement of the future field
depends on the type of fruit, the
intensiveness of the production and the size
of the matured tree (dwarf, semidwarf,
etc.).
According to these characteristics the
population density varies for the same size
of area.
Once the spacing for the trees is
determined, proceed with the field layout.
 3. Land preparation cont
The basic activities of laying out the planting
field are the following:
Establish a straight line (base line) from the edge
of the field, most commonly a road, hedge or
fence.
Mark the right angle
The base line forms a base row and the other line,
running at a right angle to the first, forms the line
at which the first tree in each row is placed.
Using the base lines as reference points, a tape is
stretched along one line and pegs are put at the
desired intervals of tree spacing.
 3. Land preparation cont
Usually the planting layout follows a regular pattern.
This pattern can be based on a variety of designs:
square, rectangular, triangular, hedgerow, etc.
There are two main groups for patterns.
Smallholders use mainly square or rectangular
patterns, meanwhile hedgerow or quincunx patterns
are more suitable for intensive, high yield production.
The rootstock and shaping method also influence the
planting pattern.
Dwarf or medium size trees are more suitable for a
hedgerow pattern.
Square pattern
Rectangular pattern
Triangular pattern
Hedgerow pattern
Quincunx Pattern
Equilateral pattern
 3. Land preparation cont
Digging holes for planting
Holes/pits are dug similarly so that plant positions are
not altered at planting time.
The planting hole should be approximately 60cm x
60cm x 60cm or 50cm x 50cm x 50cm.
Dig the hole after rain or water the soil before digging.
Compost and manure is an important part of the whole
preparation, because additional organic matter
content improves the soils physical properties and
provides valuable nutrients for the tree.
Each hole needs around half a wheelbarrow (510 kg)
of compostmanure.
 3. Land preparation cont
While digging the hole, divide the topsoil from the
subsoil and place them in two separate piles near the
hole.
When the hole is ready, mix the compostmanure
with the topsoil and place it into the bottom of the
hole.
Fill up the hole with the remaining subsoil.
The soil level will be higher than the surface level, but
this is normal.
Mark the hole with a wood peg and wait a minimum
of 23 weeks before planting the seedling.
This period allows for the soil to settle down and for
the compostmanure to mature.
 3. Land preparation cont
Planting Fruit Tree Seedlings
Fruit trees are normally purchased during the
planting time and should be planted soon after
their purchase.
If they cannot be, they should be kept it moist
through covering the root system with wet soil,
sawdust or compost.
There are two types of seedlings that are
commonly used for transplant.
One of them is the bare rooted seedlings and the
other is the rooted seedlings with soil (or other
medium) ball (potted seedlings).
 3. Land preparation cont
When dealing with a bare rooted tree, the
planting process is the following:
Open a large hole to accommodate the root system
Cut off any roots that are broken or kinked
Using two pegs fix the planting board on top of the
hole
Replace the planting board with the tree stem fitted
into the central notch with the graft at least 510 cm
above the soil surface
Fill the hole with soil until the root ball is fully covered
Gently firm the soil around the tree
Level off the soil
 3. Land preparation cont
When dealing with a sapling that is in a pot, the
procedure is the following:
Dig the middle of the hole big enough to accommodate
the sapling root ball
Remove the cover of the sapling (plastic bag or other pot)
Make shallow cuts at the bottom of the root ball to induce
quick root development
Gently pull away from the root all circling or girdling roots
Place the tree upright in the hole
Set the tree at the same depth as it stood in the pot (up
to the collar mark)
Fill the hole with soil until the root ball is fully covered
Gently firm the soil around the tree
 3. Land preparation cont
Part of the planting procedures for both
types of saplings is to form the tree
basin or nest and water the plant
immediately after planting.
The basin or nest should be around one
meter in diameter.
In the center of the basin the soil level
should be 10 cm higher in order to
avoid the tree from standing in the
water.
 3. Land preparation cont
The importance of a quality basin
around the tree is:
To hold irrigation water in order to
facilitate water penetration into the soil
To hold manure, mulch and other
nutrients
To facilitate weed control under the tree
canopy
broccoli
Cucumber
Onion
Asparagus
 Irrigation and Fertilization
Water requirement includes:
The losses due to Evapotranspiration (ET) and
Consumptive Use (CU)
The losses during the application of irrigation of water
The quantity of water required for special operations
such as land preparation, transplanting
Therefore, water requirement (WR) = ET and/or CU +
Application losses + Special needs, i.e. WR is a
demand for water
The supply of water comes from the following sources
Effective rainfall (ER), Irrigation water (IW) and Soil
profile contribution (S)
Therefore, water supply = ER + IW + S
 Methods cont
Irrigation requirement and scheduling
The irrigation water need of a certain crop is
the difference between
The crop water need
The effective rainfall and the water
contributed from the soil profile
A farms irrigation water requirement depends
on:
The irrigation needs of the individual crops
The size of the area where the crop is planted
Losses in the farm water distribution system
 Methods cont
Net Irrigation Requirement (NIR): the
amount of irrigation water required bringing
the soil moisture level in the effective root
zone to field capacity.
Gross Irrigation Requirement (GIR): the
total amount of water applied through
irrigation, i.e. NIR plus losses in water
application and other losses.
GIR in field can be calculated as:
GIR = NIR/IE, where IE = irrigation
efficiency
 Methods cont
Example: if the net amount of irrigation is 10cm and
the irrigation efficiency is 70% then the gross amount
of water to be applied to the field is 10/0.70 =
14.29cm
Irrigation efficiency: - is the percentage of irrigation
water that is stored in the soil and available for CU by
crops. It indicates how efficiently the available water
supply is being used.
The principal factors influencing irrigation efficiency
are:
the design of the irrigation system
the degree of land preparation
the skill and care of the irrigator
 Methods cont
Irrigation frequency: - the number of
days between any two subsequent
irrigations during periods without
rainfall.
Criteria used for scheduling irrigations
include:
When the water content at FMC is about
50% or
The plant water status (leaf wilting, fruit
drop, etc)
 Methods cont
Irrigation scheduling is important for
the following reasons:
Economic reasons
Social reasons
Ecological reasons
Agricultural reasons
 Methods of irrigation
Irrigation methods vary in different parts of
the world and on different farms in the same
area because of differences in soil,
topography, water supply, crops type, costs
incurred, etc.
Based on these factors, there are four main
irrigation methods.
Surface irrigation
Overhead/sprinkler irrigation
Subsurface irrigation
Drip/trickle irrigation
 Methods cont
Fertilization
There are 20 essential chemical elements (plant
nutrients) known to be required for normal
vegetable growth.
Carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen and nitrogen are
four plant nutrients which make up 95 percent of
plant dry matter.
The other 16 essential elements: iron, calcium,
phosphorus, potassium, copper, sulfur,
magnesium, manganese, zinc, boron, chlorine,
molybdenum, cobalt, sodium, silicon and
vanadium are supplied to plants by the soil.
 Methods cont
Common incomplete fertilizers or farm-
type fertilizers

Fertilizer %N % P2O5 % K 2O

Diammonium
18 46 0
phosphate

Urea 46 0 0
 Methods cont
Organic and soil improving fertilizers
The word organic applied to fertilizers simply
means that the nutrients contained in the
product are derived solely from the remains
or a by-product of a once-living organism.
Cottonseed meal, blood meal, bone meal,
hoof and horn meal, and all manures, are
examples of organic fertilizers.
Manure as an organic fertilizer varies in
nutrient content according to the animal
source and its diet.
 Methods cont
Soil improving crops
Green manure crops or cover crops constitute soil-
improving crops
The terms green manure and cover crops are
sometimes used.
Green manure crops are those that are grown
especially for soil improvement, are turned under
while they are still green, and usually grown during
the same season of the year as the vegetable crops.
Cover crops are those which are grown both for
protection of the soil and soil improvement
Cover crops may be plowed under as green or dead
material, but most of them are plowed under green.
 Fertilizer application methods
There are different methods of applying
fertilizer depending on the formulation and
the crop needs. These methods are the
following:
Broadcast: A recommended rate of fertilizer
is spread over the growing area and should
be mechanically incorporated into the soil.
Band: Narrow bands of fertilizer are applied
in furrows 5 to 7.5 cm to the side of the
planting area and 2.5 to 5 cm deeper than
the seeds or plants that are to be planted.
 Methods cont
Starter solutions: Another way to satisfy the
need for fertility when setting out transplants
of tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, etc. is through
the use of a starter solution. Follow directions
on the fertilizer label.
Side dress: Fertilizer may be applied as a side
dressing after plants are growing. Fertilizer
should be applied on both sides of the row 6 to
8 inches from the plants. Side dress soil
incorporated applications should be made at a
sufficiently young stage of growth in order to
minimize root pruning.
 Methods cont
Foliar feed: This method is used when:
Insufficient fertilizer was applied before planting;
A quick growth response is wanted;
Micro-nutrients (such as iron or zinc) are locked
into the soil; or
When the soil is too cold for the plants to extract
or use the fertilizer applied to the soil.
Foliar-applied nutrients are rapidly absorbed and
used by the plant.
Absorption begins within minutes after application,
and with most nutrients, it is completed within 1 to
2 days.