What is the difference between Agriculture and Horticulture?

Most times, horticulture is usually regarded as one of the branches of agriculture, but that does not mean both terms are essentially the same. Horticulture simply means the science or art of cultivating gardens. It is the cultivation of plants, mainly for the materials that will be generated, food, as well as for beauty and decoration.

Horticulture requires the use of skills, technologies, knowledge in order to produce materials that can be consumed by humans and those that can be used for other purposes. Just like we have so many processes in agriculture such as plant propagation, production of crops, etc. they also exist in horticulture. On the other hand, agriculture is simply the science of crop production, and the rearing and management of farm animals for human consumption.

There are various branches of agriculture, and horticulture is usually regarded as one of these branches. Unlike in horticulture where there are plants that are not meant for human consumption, agriculture is centered mainly on the production of food crops.

Horticulture uses science to grow and generate plant life. This knowledge includes methods to condition the soil for planting seeds. Some of the main variables of horticulture include plant reproduction, breeding of plants, production of crops, plant composition as well as biochemistry and genetic engineering. Horticulture carries out thorough research in their realm so that they could derive better crop yields, and that more improved food supply can be obtained.

Agriculture, on the other hand, is the science for growing crops and farming animals. Agriculture is very involved, and it pertains to living organisms and their purpose. The photosynthesis of plants is when the sun provides sunlight to plants, which is converted to sugars which are processed. Agriculture is about the delicate balance between caring for and perpetuating the circle of life, as plants are protected for human consumption such as crops like wheat, rice, corn and, oats, along with cattle.