Career in horticulture

Deciding a right career for your own is an important task and confusing at the same time. Sadly, while selecting a career the thing many people don't realise is that there are numerous other options as well apart from going for Engineering, Medical or any other mainstream career. 

In fact, there are many careers which can be better suited for you compare to this mainstream careers and one of those careers can be Horticulture. 

So if you want to know about horticulturist and whether it is the right choice for you or not, then you are at the right place because I am gonna tell you everything about career as a horticulturist in this article. 

Horticulture is the vast field in agriculture which deals with growth and cultivation of plants, vegetables, flowers, herbs.There are many career opportunities of becoming a horticulturist, Floriculturist, Pomologist, Soil Scientist, Seed Analysts, etc.. This field offers different designations, some of them are Project manager, Landscape manager, Foreman, Professor, Researcher, Cultivator, etc.. 

What is horticulture ?

Horticulture

Horticulturist is the branch of agricultural science which deals with the cultivation and growth of different plants, vegetables, flowers, herbs, ornamental trees. Horticulture also deals with maintaining landscape, nurseries, green houses, and plantation.

This is the vast field with many career opportunities you can go for. This is the main branch of agriculture where you can be on any designation, from a researcher to even a project manager. This field offers everything, all you need is right mindset and skills which we will talk about later in this article. 

Career in horticulture:

As I mentioned before, horticulture is the main branch of agriculture and therefore there are lot of career opportunities in it. You can become anything and earn any amount of money all you need is just right mindset with a interest in the field. So let's discuss everything you need to know about career in horticulture.

Scope in horticulture:

Future and scope in horticulture is big specially in agriculture based countries like India where agriculture is the building block of economy. Agriculture is essential for every economy around the globe. That's why there is a growing need of highly skilled horiculturist in India who can help in development and growth of plants and vegetable.

Horticulture not only deals with production of plants but also post management of plants, vegetables and fruits as well.

Scope of career in horticulture is bright in India because horticulture contributes around 20% of agriculture GDP and 4% of total Indian economy. India stands at second position in production of vegetables and fruits where India produces 70 different varieties of vegetables.

Jobs:

As horticulture is such an important sector for every economy, therefore there are many job opportunities in every sector but many people are not aware of it. Let's discuss about all these various career opportunities and job profiles in horticulture.

Job profile in horticulture:

Horticulture does not limit with only being a horticulturist, in fact you can be specialised in one particular sector of horticulture and pursue your career in it. 

There are many different types of horticulturist and many different job profiles in it. Here are the some of the job profiles in horticulture:

1. Floriculturist: Floriculture is the branch which deals with flowers and ornamental plants. It studies growing and marketing of flowers and it's a huge industry since these flowers are the essential ingridient in the cosmetic and perfume industry all around the world. 

A Floriculturist

The person associated with this is known as floriculturist and they are specialized in planning the landscape of parks, campus, industrial site, grounds, malls and other big project for flowers.

Floriculturst have good knowledge of growing and cutting flowers, bedding plants and potted plants from production to post harvest management.

2. Pomologist: Pomology is the study of cultivation of nuts and fruits which focus on growing, cultivating, production, post harvest, storage and processing of fruits. These fruit plants are the key source for different nutrients such as carbohydrates, vitamins, proteins and antioxidants. 

A Pomologist

It's a fact that fruits are essential for human survival and a good source of food therefore fruits industry plays an important role in country's economy, which makes pomology a more important field and a good career to go for. 

3. Olericulturist: Olericulture is the study and growth of vegetables and people who grow and take care of vegetable growth are known as olericulturist. 

A Olericulturist

Vegetables are imporant part of horticulture, which has immense scope in countries like India with big agricultural sector.

4. Horticulture Technician: Horticulture technician grows plants which can be used as food, in medicines, education sector and even for decoration.

5. Horticulture Supervisor: Horticulture supervisor are responsible for overseeing the cultivation and growth of different plants, herbs, crops and vegetables. They also check for plants with some diseases which can be the reason for some landscape problems.

Well these were just the 5 job profiles which I mentioned in this article to give you the idea of what work a horticulturist does, but this is such a vast field which can potentially have unlimited career opportunities and profiles making it almost impossible to mention all of them here. 

Top work areas and recruiters:

As I said, that there are many job profile and career opportunities in horticulture but there has to be some place or sector where you will be working. 

So here is the list of top work areas and recruiters in horticulture: 

Work areas in horticulture
Field Work
Sales and Marketing
Farming
Teaching
Research
Irrigation development

Top recruiters in horticulture
Interior Plantscapes
Green Decor
Greater Texas Landscape Services
Sun Valley Landscaping
Casa Verde Growers
SHORB Landscaping
ER&M ecological restoration and management
IFFCO KISAN SANCHAR LIMITED

Salary:

Money is an important part in life and selecting a career which pays you well is important for financial independence but we always recommend selecting a career which you like and the work you enjoy doing because every field has infinite earning opportunities when you enjoy your work. 

Same goes here as well, you can earn any amount of money you can imagine with right skill set and most importantly if you are satisfied with your work. 

An average salary of horticulturist is around $40,000 a year. Salary of a horticulturist depends on the location, skills, level of education etc.. In India, a fresher can earn around 1.8 to 2.5 lacks per anum. This figure will increase depending upon the skills and experience. 

Here are the details of how much you can get initially if you are going for horticulturist but based on your skills and interest in the field there is no limit on the amount you can earn.

Position	Average Salary (Annually)
Horticultrist	2,50,000 Rs
Floriculturist	3,00,000 Rs
Pomologist	4,00,000 Rs
Soil Scientist	3,50,000 Rs
Seed Analysts	3,00,000 Rs
Plantation Manager	7,40,000 Rs
Horticulture Specialist	6,00,000 Rs
Technical Assistant	2,23,000 Rs

Conclusion:

Horticulture is a good career option for many people and if you are someone who loves plant, agro industry can be a good career option for you. Please note that, this field is only good for those people who love spending and taking care of plants and enjoy the work.

If you don't enjoy the work you are doing, things can get little hard for you in this career as only people will right skill set can achieve more success in this kind of field. 

If you want to know more about different career options after class 12th PCB, we have a separate article for that, click here to read that article and if you are interested in horticulture and want to pursue career in it, here is the article on how to become a horticullturist in India. 

If you have any query or doubt feel free to drop a comment below of this article, I will be happy to help you.