Agriculture: Tropical Horticulture Specialty
This is content from the Catalog 2019–2020 back issue. Please visit the current catalog for current information.
Contact:
Email: normanq@hawaii.edu
Tel: (808) 932-7691
Website: https://hilo.hawaii.edu/academics/cafnrm/
The Tropical Horticulture curriculum is designed to provide students with a well-rounded background in horticultural science with special emphasis on the production of tropical and subtropical crops. The program offers a wide selection of courses, each providing the student with both the theoretical and the hands-on approach to learning the subject matter. Required and elective horticulture courses cover a wide range of topics such as nursery management, floriculture, orchid culture, tropical landscaping, vegetable crop production, tropical fruit production, and many more. Elective courses utilize state-of-the-art technology in areas such as aseptic micro-propagation (plant tissue culture) and hydroponics. In addition to these specialized courses, the Tropical Horticulture curriculum is based on a solid core of traditional horticultural courses where students learn basic horticultural techniques such as grafting, pruning, pest management, and cultivating crops that are of economic interest in the tropics.
Students are provided with the necessary skills and knowledge required for employment and postgraduate education. Hands-on participation is an integral part of each course and strengthens the students’ ability to apply theory. Courses such as plant tissue culture, weed science, and others will generally be accepted as graduate level courses. Additionally, students will broaden their experience through required and elective courses from other agriculture areas of specializations. Graduates from this program typically find employment as entrepreneurs, research associates, teachers, extension agents, grounds superintendents, agriculture products sales representatives, plant quarantine inspectors, and agriculture technicians. Graduates are highly skilled in managing, producing, and marketing horticultural crops.
Student Learning Outcomes
- Thorough familiarity with the principles of horticulture and sustainable production of fruit, vegetable, and ornamental crops in the tropics.
- Identify and analyze the factors that affect crop production including the emerging body of knowledge in plant growth and development and the contribution of climatic, environmental, and edaphic factors.
- Advanced skills in the actual growing and marketing of crops that illustrate economic viability and sustainability of agricultural practices.
- Interact effectively with all stakeholders of agricultural development in the community and participate in outreach programs that demonstrate cultural sensitivity and integration of new agricultural technologies with indigenous knowledge.