Agrotechnology

Urban and peri-urban horticulture issues in Horticultural Science

International Conference on Agricultural & Horticultural Sciences

September 14-15, 2012 Hyderabad International Convention Centre, India

Surakshitha. N. C, SharathKumar M and Vasanth Kumar

Posters: Agrotechnol

Abstract:

Urban and peri-urban horticulture (UPH) helps to grow greener cities by contributing to food security, employment, waste management and community well-being. Urban horticulture, defined as plant production activities that are conducted in a city or suburb that produce horticultural plants that are wholly or partially edible, economically viable and has the potential to reduce CO 2 emissions. Moreover, to increase productivity in limited resource areas, closed or semi closed systems (i.e. green - houses) are considered more advantageous than open systems (i.e., fields). The production and daily delivery to market of perish - able horticultural crops from smallholder farmers close to large urban centres (peri-urban horticulture; market gardening) have been important for millennia. Unsorted vegetables, fruits, flowers and also medicinal and aromatic plants is delivered directly to urban consumers with little or no official oversight for quality or safety. However, the surge in world population from 2 to 7 billion during the past 70 years, and especially a well-documented rural-to-urban migration, have profoundly influenced both the practicality of traditional peri-urban horticulture and the numbers of the urban poor. Competition for water resources can be fierce and modern food quality and safety expectations increasingly demand better compliance and oversight. Horticultural sciences can inform issues about what, how and where to grow. This sector knows about marketing delivering safe and attractive products to consumers. Perhaps most importantly, horticulturists can credibly address issues about land, labour, water and the crop production/protection inputs needed for successful and sustainable production.

Biography :

Surakshitha, N.C. has completed her B.Sc (Horticulture) at the age of 21 from University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot. At present she is pursuing M.Sc. (Horticulture) in Fruit Science, Department of Fruit Science, PG centre, Bangalore from University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot. She has attended national and international horticultural conferences.