Horticulture is a branch of science which deals with the art and technology of growing fruits, vegetables and flowers, besides other crops, such as medicinal plants, mushrooms, plantation crops, etc. There are tremendous employment opportunities all over the globe in the fie ld of horticulture, especially floriculture and landscape architecture, and there is a big demand of skilled persons. Since literature designed specifically for enhancing practical based vocational teaching is grossly lacking, hence a series on Skill Development Manuals was designed and the first book entitled "A Handbook for Skill Development : Nursery Management of Horticultural Crops" has been designed with the specific objective of for mutating exercises for the students along with a brief description of the theoretical aspects involved, to give hands on t raining and expertise in propagation and management of nursery plants. The manual comprises 27 lab activities sectioned into 5 sections and it covers all aspects of media, containers, structures for propagation of horticultural crops, sexual and asexual methods of propagation, Hi-tech nursery raising techniques and finally, how to maintain nursery records and packaging and transportation of nursery plants. Since propagation and nursery management is the basic pillar of horticulture, the manual is useful for all students studying Horticulture starting at the Intermediate level, B.Sc. as well as M.Sc. and especially for the B.Voc. students studying any trade in horticulture. This is also useful for the skilled human resource employed in the Government nurseries, development departments, gardeners, commercial nurserymen, amateur horticulturists, etc.
Deepa H Dwivedi is a Ph.D in Horticulture from the GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar. Having started her career as Assistant Professor/Training Associate at the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Science and Technology, Srinagar, Kashmir she worked at the RARS/KVK at Leh, Laddakh. Presently, she is involved in teaching and research for post-graduate and Ph.D courses in Horticulture at the Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University in Lucknow, where she has also initiated a Bachelor degree course in Vocational Studies in Floriculture and Landscape Gardening under the Skill Development Program of the Government of India.
Navaldey Bharati born in 1987 and permanent resident of Jyotiba Nagar, Distt. Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh, completed her under-graduation in Botany and Chemistry from Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj University, Kanpur (U.P.) in 2008 and Post-graduation in Agriculture(Horticulture) from Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow (U.P.) in 2010. She has awarded with Gold Medal in post-graduation in year 2010. She has received her Ph.D. (horticulture) degree from Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow (U.P.) in 2016. She has also qualified ASRB-NET in year 2010. She worked as Assistant Professor (Guest Faculty) to Bachelor in Vocational Studies (Floriculture & Landscape Gardening) course under the skill development programme run by the Central Government in Department of Applied Plant Sciences at Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow (U.P.). At Present she is teaching as Assistant Professor in Department of Horticulture at Maya College of Agriculture and Technology, Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
Section A: GENERAL
