Fundamentals of Horticulture

Economic importance and classification of horticultural crops and their culture and nutritive
value, area and production, exports and imports, fruit and vegetable zones of India and of
different states, nursery management practices, soil and climate, vegetable gardens, nutrition and
kitchen garden and other types of gardens – principles, planning and layout, management of
orchards, planting systems and planting densities. Production and practices for fruit, vegetable
and floriculture crops, nursery techniques and their management. Principles and methods of
pruning and training of fruit crops, types and use of growth regulators in horticulture, water
management, weed management, fertility management in horticultural crops, cropping systems,
intercropping, multi-tier cropping, mulching, bearing habits, factors
influencing the fruitfulness and unfruitfulness. Rejuvenation of old orchards, top working, frame
working, principles of organic farming.

Practical: Features of orchard, planning and layout of orchard, tools and implements, layout of
nutrition garden, preparation of nursery beds for sowing of vegetable seeds, digging of pits for
fruit plants, planting systems, training and pruning of orchard trees, preparation of fertilizer
mixtures and field application, preparation and application of growth regulators, layout of
different irrigation systems, identification and management of nutritional disorder in fruits and
vegetables, assessment of bearing habits, maturity standards, harvesting, grading, packaging and
storage.

Plant Propagation and Nursery Management

Propagation: Need and potentialities for plant multiplication, sexual and asexual methods of
propagation, advantages and disadvantages. Seed dormancy (scarification & stratification)
internal and external factors, nursery techniques, apomixes – mono-embrony, polyembrony,
chimera & bud sport. Propagation Structures: Mist chamber, humidifiers, greenhouses,
glasshouses, cold frames, hot beds, poly-houses, nursery (tools and implements), use of growth
regulators in seed and vegetative propagation, methods and techniques of cutting, layering,
grafting and budding physiological & bio chemical basis of rooting, factors influencing rooting
of cuttings and layering, graft incompatibility. Anatomical studies of bud
union, selection and maintenance of mother trees, collection of scion wood stick, scion-stock
relationship, and their influences, bud wood certification, techniques of propagation through
specialized organs, corm, runners, suckers. Micrografting, hardening of plants in nurseries.
Nursery registration act. Insect/pest/disease control in nursery.

Tropical and Sub-Tropical Fruits

Horticultural classification of fruits including genome classification. Horticultural zones of India,

detailed study of area, production and export potential, varieties, climate and soil requirements,
propagation techniques, planting density and systems, after care, training and pruning.
Management of water, nutrient and weeds, special horticultural techniques including plant
growth regulators, their solution preparation and use in commercial orchards. Physiological
disorders. Post-harvest technology, harvest indices, harvesting methods, grading, packaging and
storage of the following crops. Mango, banana, bael, banana, grapes, citrus, papaya, sapota,
guava, pineapple, jackfruit, avocado, mangosteen, litchi, carambola, durian and passion fruit.
Bearing in mango and citrus, causes and control measures of special production problems,
alternate and irregular bearing overcome, control measures. Seediness and kokkan disease in
banana, citrus decline and casual factors and their management. Bud forecasting in grapes, sex
expression and seed production in papaya, latex extraction and crude papain production,
economic of production. Rainfed horticulture, importance and scope of arid and semi-arid zones
of India. Characters and special adaptation of crops: ber, aonla, annona, jamun, wood apple, bael,
pomegranate, carissa, date palm, phalsa, fig, west Indian cherry and tamarind.

Temperate Fruits

Classification of temperate fruits, detailed study of areas, production, varieties, climate and soil
requirements, propagation, planting density, cropping systems, after care training and pruning,
self incompatibility and pollinisers, use of growth regulators, nutrient and weed management,
harvesting, post-harvest handling and storage of apple, pear, peach, apricot, cherry, persimmon,
strawberry, kiwi, Queens land nut (Mecademia nut), almond, walnut, pecan nut, hazel nut and
chest nut. Re- plant problem, rejuvenation and special production problems like pre-mature leaf
fall, physiological disorders, important insect – pests and diseases and their control measures.

Orchard Management

Orchard management, importance, objectives, merits and demerits, clean cultivation, sod culture,
Sod mulch, herbicides and inorganic and organic mulches. Tropical, sub-tropical and temperate
horticultural systems, competitive and complimentary effect of root and shoot systems.
Biological efficiency of cropping systems in horticulture, systems of irrigation. Soil management
in relation to nutrient and water uptake and their effect on soil environment, moisture, organisms
and soil properties. Integrated nutrient and pest management. Utilization of resources constraints
in existing systems. Crop model and crop regulation in relation to cropping systems.

Plantation Crops
History and development, scope and importance, area and production, export and import
potential, role in national and state economy, uses, industrial importance, by products utilization,
soil and climate, varieties, propagation: principles and practices of seed, vegetative and micro-
propagation, planting systems and method, gap filling, systems of cultivation, mulching, shade
regulation, weed and water management, training, pruning and handling, nutrition, foliar feeding,
role of growth regulators, soil management, liming practices, tipping practices, top working,
physiological disorders, harvesting, post-harvest handling and processing, packaging and
marketing, yield and economics of coconut, arecanut, oil palm, palmyrah palm, cacao, cashew
nut, coffee, tea and rubber.

Weed Management in Horticultural Crops

Weeds: Introduction, harmful and beneficial effects, classification, propagation and
dissemination; Weed biology and ecology, crop weed association, crop weed competition and
allelopathy Concepts of weed prevention, control and eradication; Methods of weed control:
physical, cultural, chemical and biological methods. Integrated weed management; Herbicides:
advantages and limitation of herbicide usage in India, Herbicide classification, formulations,
methods of application; Introduction to Adjuvants and their use in herbicides; Introduction to
selectivity of herbicides; Compatibility of herbicides with other agro chemicals; Weed
management in major field and horticultural crops, shift of weed flora in cropping systems,
aquatic and problematic weeds and their control.

Principles of Genetics and Cytogenetic

Historical background of genetics, theories and hypothesis. Physical basis of heredity, cell
reproduction, mitosis, meiosis and its significance. Gametogenesis and syngamy in plants.
Mendelian genetics–Mendel’s principles of heredity, deviation from Mendelian inheritance,
pleiotropy, threshold characters, co-dominance, penetrance and expressivity. Chromosome
theory of inheritance, gene interaction. Modification of monohybrid and dihybrid rations.
Multiple alleles, quantitative inheritance linkage and crossing over, sex linked inheritance and
characters. Cytoplasmic inheritance and maternal effects. Chemical basis of heredity, structure of
DNA and its replication. Evidence to prove DNA and RNA – as genetic material. Mutations and
their classification. Chromosomal aberrations, changes in chromosome structure and number.

Principles of Plant Breeding

Plant breeding as a dynamic science, genetic basis of Plant Breeding – classical, quantitative and
molecular, Plant Breeding in India – limitations, major achievements, goal setting for future.
Sexual reproduction (cross and self pollination), asexual reproduction, pollination control
mechanism (incompatibility and sterility and implications of reproductive systems on population
structure). Genetic components of polygenic variation and breeding strategies selection as a basis
of crop breeding. Hybridization and selection – goals of hybridization, selection of plants;
population developed by hybridization – simple crosses, bulk crosses and complex crosses.
General and special breeding techniques. Heterosis – concepts, estimation and its genetic basis.

Breeding Of Fruit and Plantation Crops

Fruit breeding - History, importance in fruit production, distribution, domestication and

adaptation of commercially important fruits, variability for economic traits, breeding strategies,
clonal selection, bud mutations, mutagenesis and its application in crop improvement – policy
manipulations – in vitro breeding tools (important fruit and plantation crops).