Horticulture and Post-Harvest Technology
What this domain tests
Horticulture and Post-Harvest Technology tests orchard planning, propagation, training and pruning, maturity indices, harvesting, grading, packaging, storage and value addition. Maharashtra crops such as mango, grape, banana, onion and tomato are common contexts.
Core rules and concepts
- Orchard layout depends on plant spacing, pollination, machinery access and sunlight. Plant population per hectare = 10,000 ÷ (spacing in m × spacing in m).
- Propagation may be sexual (seed) or asexual (grafting, budding, layering, cutting). Asexual propagation preserves cultivar characters.
- Training shapes the plant; pruning removes unwanted growth and regulates bearing.
- Maturity indices include colour, firmness, soluble solids, acidity and days after flowering. Maturity is not the same as ripening.
- Grading separates produce by size, colour and quality; packaging protects produce and reduces bruising.
- Storage life depends on temperature, humidity, ethylene and sanitation. Onion and potato need curing before storage.
Worked example
A mango orchard is planted at 10 m × 10 m. Area per plant = 100 m². Plants per hectare = 10,000 ÷ 100 = 100. If 5% of plants fail, the surviving stand is 100 × 0.95 = 95 plants. The reasoning is to calculate the area occupied by one plant before dividing the hectare area; wider spacing means fewer plants but more light and airflow per tree.
Traps that cost marks
Do not call colour alone a reliable maturity index for every crop. Do not store climacteric fruit with ethylene-sensitive vegetables. Do not confuse curing with ripening. Do not calculate plant population from row length alone. Do not ignore post-harvest loss when calculating marketable produce.