About
The Department of Horticulture at the College of Agriculture, Bikaner came into existence with only 1 teacher
in 1988. Now, it has strength of 5 teachers and scientists. It was established with the specific objectives to
develop highly skilled and efficient human resource in the field of fruit and vegetable science and evolving
strategies for orchard, nursery and post harvest management of different fruit and vegetable crops and
developing location specific technologies/varieties of fruits, vegetables and flowers. The department offers
under graduate and post graduate programmes to generate quality human resource. The Department of Horticulture,
College of Agriculture, Bikaner is engaged in teaching B.Sc. Agriculture (Hons.) students about various aspects
in Horticultural Sciences viz. fruits, vegetables, medicinal and aromatic plants, spices, floriculture and
landscaping, post harvest technology of fruits and vegetables .
The M.Sc. (Ag.) in horticulture was started in 1999 and first batch was passed out in the year 2001. Since
then, around 80 students obtained their degree from this department. The doctoral degree in the subject
horticulture was started in the year 2005 and 29 students have acquired their Ph. D. degree till date. The
doctoral degree in the subject Vegetable Science was started in the year 2022-23 and first batch will be passed
out in the year 2025. The doctoral degree in the subject Fruit Science was started in the year 2023-24 and
first batch will be passed out in the year 2026. The Department has a fully functional well equipped laboratory
which caters to the needs of students for conducting practical, research work and imparting identification
skills for the respective degree programmes. The Department also have net-house, poly house and a big nursery
in campus. The department maintains the landscaping of the University as well as college. The Department also
undertakes extension activities in collaboration with the Agricultural Research Station, Krishi Vigyan Kendra
and imparts need based training programmes to farmers, extension workers and agricultural officers.
Goal
1. To educated graduate, post graduate and Ph.D. students about various aspects of horticultural science.
2. To conduct need based research on local, regional and national problems in horticulture and to provide
economically viable solutions in form of technology generation on production, processing and value addition of
fruits, vegetables and flowers.
3. To encourage faculty to get externally funded research projects on various aspects of horticultural science.
4. To contribute in overall horticultural development by education research and extension activities by
providing trained human resources, solutions to problems and dissemination of farmer friendly technology among
stakeholders.
Vision
1. To teach graduate, post graduate and doctoral about horticultural sciences and recent developments in
horticultural sciences.
2. To identify the researchable issues in horticultural sciences specific to the region and to conduct research
on them to find out viable solution.
3. To extend horticultural orchard with diverse fruit crops and varieties to establish diversity in fruit
orchard and to encourage future research activities.
4. To explore possibilities of diversification in horticultural sciences in local and regional aspects viz.
medicinal and aromatic plants, floriculture and landscaping, post harvest technology, spices etc. via post
graduate teaching and research and externally funded research projects depending upon available resources.
5. To contribute in extension activities of the university in development of horticulture in the region.
Thrust area
1. Efficient water management in horticultural crops by pressurized irrigation techniques and to develop
techniques in horticultural sciences for the region with recourse conservation and stress management
strategies.
2. Development of horticultural science in the region with production technology suitable for the region.
3. Encouragement of horticultural plant propagation and nursery management activities in the region in order to
meet out the demand of quality planting material by farmers and stakeholders.
4. Development of new germplasm blocks and orchards of horticultural plants suitable for the region in order to
encourage research and development activities in horticultural science in the region.
5. Scientific studies on region specific horticultural species with reference to development of production,
protection, propagation, conservation and post harvest technologies.
Mission
Horticulture sector is emerging as one of the prime sector in Agriculture since it has the potential to provide
nutrition, income, employment and social security to the inhabitants of rural and urban areas. Despite the fact
that India is the second largest fruit and vegetable producer in the world, the per capita availability of
fruits and vegetables is very low especially in arid region of the country including Rajasthan. The mission of
the Department is to fill this gap with dual approach of developing skilled human resource as well as well
planned research activities to identify the strength, weakness, opportunities and threats of Arid Horticulture
and to identify the major areas of research to be addressed to remain competitive in the market.
Mandate
• Improvement of quality of technical manpower through integrated approach of teaching, research & extension.
• Imparting quality education and furthering the advancement of learning in frontier areas of Horticulture for
ushering in an era of total quality management.
• To undertake basic and strategic studies for developing technologies to enhance productivity and utilization
of arid horticultural crops.
Thrust areas
• During the last five years, research activities related to increase production and productivity of arid
fruits and vegetables crops under changing climate scenario.
• Propagation studies for quality production of seed and planting material of fruits, vegetable, flowers and
medicinal & aromatic plants.
• Breeding approaches for development of improved varieties/hybrids suitable for arid region.
• Development of organic farming/ water & nutrient management for major horticultural crops.
• Standardization of protected cultivation of high value horticultural crops.
• Identification and characterization of varietal strains and their mass multiplication for sustainable
horticulture production
• Strengthening of lecture halls for e-learning and establishment of hygienic laboratories for basic research
and development.
Objectives
The major objective of the department is to maintain an inventory of major horticultural crops and to develop
suitable technologies to maximize productivity of fruits, vegetables, flowers, medicinal & aromatic crops and
also development of pre and post harvest management practices. At present, department has focused its efforts
to develop integrated approaches for organic production and post harvest management.
• To develop human resources for quality education and research
• To develop suitable components for Integrated Nutrient Management technologies
• To develop technologies based on open and polyhouse nursery management.
• To develop suitable technologies based on post harvest management.
• Development of technologies based on planting geometry due to climate change
• Develop suitable technologies for enhancement the cultivation of endangered species.
Activities covered /done by the department
• The Department of Horticulture offers courses at UG, PG and Ph.D. levels in the area of Pomology,
Olericulture, Floriculture, Medicinal and Aromatic crops and postharvest management.
• Research projects of collaborative nature are in operation, funded by ICAR (AICRP on AZF (Date Palm), Niche
area of excellence and Ministry of Agriculture (PFDC).
• The research findings are being validated through on farm adoptive research for its promotion and diffusion
in the region.
• The well established labs for carrying out various types of research adorn the department.
Extension Activities
The Department is actively engaged in extension activities and transfer of technologies of its own and of KVK at Bikaner and Lunkaransar. It offers technical guidance and consultancies in the field of horticulture and conducts front line farmer-field demonstrations and participation in farmers’ fairs/ field visits.