Preface Most of the Agricultural Universities, Institutes, Organizations and Government selection agencies have made competitive examinations as the basis for choosing candidates. The questions asked in these examinations are of objective type, large in number and of varied nature. It requires quick answering within a specified period of time to secure high merit and assured success. The aspirants have to search a lot of printed and e-material to cover each topic of syllabus thoroughly. This is so because there is hardly any high quality book available on horticulture that covers the entire syllabus of this subject for competitive examinations. Keeping this in mind, a sincere effort has been made to write this book named ‘Essence of Horticulture’ covering various branches of horticulture. This book contains quite an adequate material for seven Divisions of Horticulture, namely, Fruit science, Vegetable science, Floriculture and Landscape Gardening, Plantation crops, Spices and Condiments, Medicinal and Aromatic Plants and Post Harvest Technology. The book has been written keeping in view the pattern of different horticulture/ agriculture competitive entrance examinations viz. JRF, SRF, ARS, ASRB, NET & Ph.D. (Horticulture). We hope that this book will be useful for U.G, P.G. and Ph.D. horticulture students, teachers and horticulture people across the country. Special appreciation is expressed to the many contributors who have helped and contributed in providing the questions from different divisions and for their helpful suggestions during the preparation of the manuscript. We are thankful to Dr. V.K. Garande, Mr. C.Y. Dhumal, Dr. Manoj Nazir, Dr. P. Pavan Kumar from various disciplines of Horticulture for their help and valuable suggestion. We also thank to New India Publishing Agency to bring the excellent format of this book. We have attempted to bring this information as much as possible but all the information available on the subject cannot be presented in a text of this size. This presentation is our compromise. We will feel more satisfied if this book can serve the purpose of students to succeed in various competitive examinations. All suggestions for future improvement for this book will be greatly solicited.

Horticulture word derived from Latin word: Hortus meaning ‘Garden’ and cultura means ‘cultivation’. Father of horticulture: Thomas Andrew Knight, John Lindley, Liberty Hyde Bailey. 1st artificial hybridization in fruit crop in world: T. A. Knight. Father of vegetables: L. H. Bailey. 1st book in horticulture: Fruit growing in India: W.B. Hayes (1945) & related to litchi. Export growth of fresh fruits and vegetables in term of value is 14% and of processed fruits and vegetables is 16.27%. Contribution of horticulture sector to agriculture GDP (2013-14): 29%. India is largest producer of Coconut, Cashew, Tea and Spices.

1. GENERAL POMOLOGY Word pomology: Derived from Greek word ‘pome’ meaning development of fruit from inferior ovary and ‘logos’ meaning to study. Father of systematic pomology: De Candolle. Temperate fruits are popularly known in India as hill fruits or cold region fruits. India ranks 1st in productivity of grapes, banana and papaya. Ratio of Chlorophyll a to chlorophyll b is highest in C4 plants. Gibberellic acid is enhanced by exposing plants to red light. The life line tree of ‘Thar Desert’ is Prosopis cineraria. Grape of the desert is Salvadora oleoides.

1. General Olericulture Olericulture is Latin term ‘Olerus’ meaning herb. China, India, USA, Turkey and Italy: Major vegetable producers. Indian subcontinent has 80 species of major and minor vegetables apart from several wild species consumed as vegetable. About 175 different types of vegetables are grown in India, includes 82 leafy vegetables and 41 root (tuber and bulb) crops. Cucurbits, taros, yams, brinjal and okra have rich diversity in Indian gene centre. USA is leading importer of cucumber and gherkins, assorted canned vegetables and other dehydrated vegetables from India. Germany leads in import of preserved onion, green pepper in brine and dehydrated onion flakes/powder. Singapore leads in import of dried asparagus; Japan in dehydrated garlic flakes; UAE in dehydrated garlic powder; Bangladesh in peas and Switzerland in dried mushrooms including morels. Mizoram is the largest producer of chow chow.

1. GENERAL FLORICULTURE Development of Floriculture’ was recommended by Dr. P.P. Trivedi committee. India ranks 2nd in flower cultivation next to China. The production of loose flowers almost tripled between the 8th Plan and the 11th Plan. The annual domestic demand is valued at around 60 billion USD. About 2,33,000 hectares across the country was used for floriculture, producing 17,29,000 metric tonnes (MT) of loose flowers and 76,732 lakh cut flowers. India has exported 22,947.23 MT of floriculture products to the world for worth of Rs. 460.75 crores in 2014-15. The share of exports of dried flowers and plant parts are 45%, flowering plants (22%), fresh foliage (13%), fresh cut flowers (10%), live plants (7%) and bulbs and tubers (3%). India’s share in global floriculture trade- 0.6%.

1. GENERAL INFORMATION International Group for the Genetic Improvement of Cocoa (INGENIC) formed in 1993. Central Coconut Research Station (presently CPCRI) was established in 1940. Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI), Kasargod, Kerala established in 1970. CPCRI hosts International Coconut Gene Bank for South Asia under the umbrella of Coconut Genetic Resources Network (COGENT) of the Biodiversity International. National Active Germplasm Site for coconut: CPCRI. United Planter’s Association of Southern India (UPASI) started in 1893. Branch of International Rubber Association was established in 1948 at Kottayam, Kerala. It was renamed as Indian Rubber Institute in 1987. Rubber Research Institute of India, Kottayam established in 1995.

1. GENERAL INFORMATION Asian continent, particularly India is known as “Land of Spices”. Spice crops are largely grown in tropics between 200N and 200S. Term ‘spice’ was derived from Latin ‘Species aromatacea’ means ‘Fruits of the earth’. Spices and condiments are grouped under food adjuncts. India is largest producer of spices and oleoresin. Home of spices/ Spice bowl of India: Kerala.

1. GENERAL INFORMATION! Major constraint of medicinal plants: Lack of genuine planting material. Maximum number of medicinal plants belong to family Asteraceae. Maximum demand in world market: 1. Senna leaves 2. Isabgol seeds 3. Cassia tora seeds. India is largest producer of 1. Kewada oil 2. Senna 3. Davana oil 4. Isabgol. India is 2nd largest producer of 1. Opium latex 2. Jasmine concrete 3. Tuberose concrete India is 3rd largest exporter of periwinkle. Thailand is largest exporter of sarpagandha leaves. China is largest producer of 1. Geranium oil 2. Citronella oil.

1. GENERAL INFORMATION India’s exports of Processed Food was Rs. 31563.43 Crores in 2014-15, which includes products like Mango pulp (Rs. 841.39 Crores), Dried and Preserved vegetable (Rs. 847.11 Crores), Other Processed Fruit and Vegetable (Rs. 2,569.93 Crores), Pulses (Rs. 1,209.51 Crores), Groundnuts (Rs. 4,675.35 Crores), Guargum (Rs. 9,480.00 Crores), Jaggery and Confectionary (Rs. 1,161.81 Crores), Cocoa Products (Rs. 848.62 Crores), Cereal Preparations (Rs. 3,038.79 Crores), Alcoholic and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (Rs. 2,231.58 Crores) and Miscellaneous Preparations (Rs. 2,437.77 Crores).