The purpose of the module is to familiarize students of the Biological Sciences (LM092) who are taking the Agricultural Science elective, with the prinicples and practices of Horticultural science.

Composts, growing media and substrates in horticulture, seed propagation, vegetative propagation, seedbed preparation, horticultural crop rotation, vegetable crop production & fertilising, fruit crop production, protected crop structures, climatic factors associated with plant growth, micropropagation & genetic modification of plants. Sustainability of Horticulture.

Students will be able to: Describe functions of compost, and evaluate the merits of various compost materials and substrates. Explain, using drawings, how to produce aerobically, a compost using organic raw materials. Describe effects of environment and hormones on vegetative propagation and explain the reasons for budding and grafting. Describe seed dormancy, and explain it can be overcome in practice. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of seed propagation, advantages and disadvantages of wild stands and seed-houses for seed procurement. Outline problems with physiological aging and evaluate possibilities offered by clonal variation. Distinguish between naturally occurring and performed-by-man vegetative propagation . Recall the basics of plant nutrition from a horticultural perspective, and suggest methods of application and types of fertiliser used when fertilising horticultural crops. Describe the climatic factors affecting plant growth and demonstrate the effects of these. Explain reasons for implementing a crop rotation, and formulate sample rotations. Report the actions undertaken when preparing a vegetable seedbed, debate the merits of direct drilling versus transplanting of seeds and seedlings and illustrate examples of production scheduling for various crops. Discuss the effects of rootstocks, and propose suitable rootstock types for different situations.

Defend and challenge existing and proposed horticultural practices, formulate improvements, with special consideration for the contribution of horticulture to society, and argue the merits and demerits of the modern food production system.

Students will be able to: Mix a compost using appropriate starting materials. Fill seed compost or cuttings compost into appropriate containers. Make peat blocks using appropriate equipment and substrate. Perform an assessment of seed viability and sow seeds successfully. Execute various types of vegetative propagation, take and handle cuttings, treat them with hormones, and test them for rooting; then nurse and transplant seedlings.

The module is taught through lectures, through practicals in a dedicated horticulture unit, through online resources and paractical projects. Traditional as well modern approaches to horticultural practice are addressed. The practical and project work will require students to be knowledgeable, to be responsible and collaborative.