Vision

Horticultural Science Division vested with the responsibility of overseeing the overall accelerated development of horticulture in national perspective for improving nutritional, ecological and livelihood security.

Mission

Achieve technology led development of Horticulture.

Mandate

To plan, co-ordinate and monitor Research and Development programmes at national level as well as to serve as knowledge repository in Horticulture Sector.

Priority areas

The Horticulture (fruits including nuts, vegetables including potato, tuber crops, mushroom, ornamental plants including cut flowers, spices, plantation crops and medicinal and aromatic plants) has become a key driver for economic development in many of the states in the country and it contributes 33per cent to GDP of agriculture, which calls for technology-led development, where Division of Horticultural science of ICAR is playing a pivotal role. The research priorities are for genetic resource enhancement and its utilization, enhancing the efficiency of production and reducing the losses in environment friendly manner.

  a) Improvement and management of tropical, subtropical and temperate fruit crops.

• Explorational of biodiversity and act as a repository of genetic resources of tropical, subtropical and temperate fruits, and to utilize them for crop improvement programmes to overcome various stresses, for increasing nutritive value and yield.
• Development of improved production technologies for better soil, water and plant health management using advanced ICT tools. 
• Post-harvest management and value addition methods in fruits, vegetables and ornamental crops to reduce the post-harvest losses and to ensure food safety & quality.
• Dissemination of technologies to the stakeholders and the assessment of its impact through farm trials, capacity building, and to commercialize the technologies and encourage entrepreneurship in the field of horticulture.  

  b) Improvement and management of root, tuber, bulbous and arid crops. 

• Basic strategic and applied research to enhance sustainable productivity, quality and utilization of root, tuber, bulbous crops and other horticultural crops of arid and semi-arid regions.
• Exploring the biodiversity and act as repository of genetic resources and scientific information on root, tuber, bulbous crops and other horticultural crops of arid and semi-arid regions.
• Dissemination of technology, capacity building, creating awareness and impact assessment of technologies.
• Strategic research for technology development and production of nucleus, breeder seed and quality/healthy planting materials for root, tuber, bulbous crops and other horticultural crops of arid and semi-arid regions.

  c) Improvement and management of vegetable crops, floriculture and mushroom.

• Basic and applied research on vegetables, ornamentals and mushroom through conventional and modern breeding approaches.
• Technologies for protected cultivation, precision farming, organic farming and shelf-life extension of seeds and planting materials of vegetables, ornamentals and mushroom.
• Biointensive modules for effective management of major diseases and insect pests of vegetables, ornamentals & mushroom and toxicological investigation. 
• Appropriate pre-& post-harvest technologies for shelf-life extension and value addition in vegetable crops, ornamentals and mushroom.
• Knowledge creation and storage, technology dissemination, and entrepreneurship development.

  d)Improvement and management of plantation crops, spices, medicinal and aromatic plants and island ecosystems.

• Utilization of plant genetic resources to develop trait-specific varieties and hybrids in plantation crops, spices, medicinal and aromatic plants, and island fishery and livestock.
• Evolving regional specific efficient cropping/farming systems along with sustainable production and plant protection technologies with climate resilience perspectives using IoT, AI and robotics.
• Product diversification and value addition in perspective of farmer groups / FPO empowerment and commercialization.
• Strategies to understand technology dissemination, and conduct multi-location trials for validation of the technologies, with special emphasis on tribal area and North East region empowerment through increased productivity and income.