Sprouting Avenues
If you cringe at the thought of being tied to a desk when it comes to a job, how about supervising a 100-acre garden full of ornamental plants?
Pramod Sharma, who has been a horticulturist for a corporate house and for the lifestyle spa Ananda in the Himalayas, has always found his job “satisfying” for the creativity it allows him. “Your job is to adorn a piece of land with beautiful plants, shrubs and flowers,” says Sharma, currently horticulture manager with IHHR Hospitality, owner of Ananda. There is a lot of science behind the green thumb. “Care has to be taken to choose the right type of soil and seeds that can produce the best results in the existing weather conditions,” says Sharma.
As a horticulturist, one has to pick one of these specialisations — vegetable science; fruit technology; floriculture. The first two involve tending to or researching plantations of fruit or vegetables. Floriculture involves maintaining a garden and/or using scientific methods to enhance its medicinal values.
For a horticulturist with specialisation in floriculture, there is increasing scope with people paying more attention to greenery. Be it a highway authority or a civic body, a farmhouse owner or a corporate house, all are keen to beautify the surroundings.
“Because of this, I foresee a bright career for horticulturists. The beautification not only helps the environment but also utilises waste water,” says VD Sharma, deputy director (retd), Noida Authority (horticulture).
Furkhan Khan is a young horticulture graduate and an agripreneur who runs a nursery, Plants World, in Delhi. Business is brisk, thanks to the mushrooming of corporate offices in Gurgaon and farmhouse beautification in Mehrauli. “Corporate offices take plants on rent — the trend has spread all over the NCR,” says Khan, who has hired three horticulturists to keep up with the demand.
Besides jobs, the field also offers opportunities in self-employment, research and consultancy. It can be pretty hi-tech stuff. Sabina 
Islam, a scientist in the horticulture division of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, says, “You get to create high-yielding varieties of vegetables or fruits, keeping in mind its nutrient value and genetic nature.”
Manoj Singh, who did MSc (horticulture), runs a consultancy, Chandel Agritech Solutions, in New Delhi to promote agri-ventures, and he feels, “Integrating management and agriculture is the need of the hour.”
Author: Vimal Chander Joshi
Date: 28th Oct., 2009
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