Landscaping and ornamental gardening
Landscape gardening refers to the arrangement of trees, shrubs, climbers and various other plants together with the building, walk, drives, artificial and natural features for the use of humanity. It is an aesthetic branch of Horticulture which deals with planting of ornamental plants in such a way that it creates a picturesque effect. It could be defined as the decoration of a tract of land with plants and other garden materials so as to produce a picturesque and naturalistic effects on a limited space. It is both an art and science of the establishment of a ground in such a way that it gives an effect of a natural landscape. It is the imitation of nature in the garden or improving of total living environment for the people. Lastly, it is the making pictures on the ground with plant and other materials.
Breeding of flower crops and ornamental plants
Many ornamentals such as rose and lily have been in cultivation for thousands of years. Plant improvement has been continuous during this time of deliberate differential reproduction of certain plants by people of many cultures. This process of selection over the years has been extremely effective; most of cultivated plants no longer even remotely resemble their wild ancestors. Plant breeding, the systematic improvement of plants has become a specialised technology, and it is responsible for a large part of the current progress in Horticulture. The main objective of ornamental flowers breeding is to produce flowers with faultless beauty, novelty and originality play an important and basic role in the market of flowers together with better vase life and transport adaptibility.
Production technology of loose flowers
Traditional flowers have large scope in India due to the availability of congenial climate, trained manpower and skilled and unskilled workers. It is suitable for small-and medium-level farmers who can engage the family members for picking and handling of flowers. Foreign exchange can be earned by exporting value-added products. The traditional flowers are picked individually mostly as buds without the stalks and marketed as loose flowers, on weight basis. Flowers are mostly used for hair adornment and for garland making. Large quantities of flowers are used for decorating marriage halls, temple chariots and arches. Jasmine and tuberose are commercially cultivated for concrete and absolute extraction. Value-added products like pigments from marigold, Gomphrena etc. are also gaining industrial importance. Major business with the flowers in different parts of the country and highest turnover per annum us from the sale of the traditional loose flowers only.
Biostatistics and Design of experiments
MOOCS Elective course from Department of Microbiology
8 weeks course- from IIT Madras
Course instructor _Prof. Mukesh Doble
Recombinant DNA & Protein technology
rDNA and protein technology Biology course aims to enable the students to understand gene cloning and strategies of rDNA technology. It provides an insight into the vectors and techniques in rDNA technology. The techniques are elaborated with PCR, hybridization, cDNA library construction and gene transfer. Also discusses the protein motifs, folds, confirmations, protein purification, tags, quantification and identification etc.
Postharvest Technology of Horticultural Crops
Post-harvest technologies constitute an inter-disciplinary science and techniques applied to agricultural commodities after harvest for the purpose of preservation, conservation, quality control, processing, packaging, storage, distribution, marketing and utilization to meet the food and nutritional requirements of consumers in relation to their needs. Again, fruits and vegetables are highly perishable commodities and the ambient high temperature obtained in the tropical country like ours makes them more susceptible for rapid development of senescence, decay and rotting. Both respiratory and transpiratory rates are proportional to temperature, increases and so that the produce quickly dries, wilts and spoils unless properly preserved. In this course, the various changes that take place in the fruit or vegetable after harvesting, as well as the maturity indices for harvesting a particular crop, will be discussed. The students will also learn about post-harvest handling of the crops so as to enhance the shelf life of the crops. The course will also discuss on the various principles involved in the preservation of fruits and vegetables along with the various techniques used in the preservation of fruits and vegetables.