Difference Between Horticulture vs Agriculture
Did you know that plants take up as much as 80% of the earth’s landmass? This means that there are more plants than there are humans and animals put together. Sometimes, we put in work as a way of cultivating some of these plants, while other times, nature just does its thing and a plant is born. This is a part of agriculture that a lot of people must have heard of.
In this post, we will talk about the difference between agriculture and horticulture. A lot of people may be familiar with the former term, but not so much with the second. We will define both terms and discuss their similarities and differences as well as peculiar traits that are associated with each one of them.
Definition of Horticulture
Horticulture is a subcategory of agriculture that deals with the cultivation and maintenance of a comparatively small piece of land for food, fruits, and vegetables. This method of cultivation is also called gardening and can be done on a small piece of land.
You may not even need to acquire a property to practice this. You can just make some space for it in your yard if you have one. If you ever need to buy land for this purpose, it would usually not be as massive as what you would expect of a proper farm field.
In comparing horticulture vs agriculture, it is obvious that the latter involves gardening as well as a number of other things as we will discuss in the next section. When compared to one another, horticulture is small scale, less expensive, exclusive, requires domestic maintenance, is mostly practiced as a hobby, and yields lesser output.
Definition of Agriculture
Agriculture can be defined as any activity that has to do with plant cultivation, animal rearing, and everything in between. It is one of the major pillars of survival as far as life is concerned and has remained one of the major pillars of financial solidarity for many nations. Some of the activities involved in this practice are irrigation, farming, cattle rearing, and so on.
One major difference between horticulture and agriculture is that the latter is practiced on a large scale unlike the former. This means you would need a large expanse of land, something more than you would expect of a large garden. It requires more resources as well, for example owners would hire helping hands to help run the farm. In some cases, owners employ the use of machines to make work easier.
Main Differences Between Horticulture vs Agriculture
To make things a little simpler and more comprehensive, we have put together this comparison table to show how these terms are different from the other.
| Basis of Comparison | Horticulture | Agriculture |
| Definition | A subcategory of agriculture that deals with the cultivation and maintenance of a comparatively small piece of land for food, fruits, and vegetables | Any activity that has to do with plant cultivation, animal rearing, and everything in between |
| Scale of operation | Small scale | Large scale |
| Activities | Cultivations, growing flowers, fruits and vegetables, domestic maintenance, etc. | Plant cultivation, cattle farming, poultry farming, etc. |
| Resources required | Does not require a lot of resources | Requires a lot of resources |
| Occupation vs hobby | Practiced mostly as a hobby than as an occupation | Practiced more as an occupation than a hobby |
| Results in quantity | Usually results in smaller yields | Usually results in larger yields |
Difference Between Horticulture and Agriculture: Conclusion
So, there you have it, the difference between agriculture vs horticulture. They are similar in a lot of ways – they both have to do with the growth of something, either plants or animals. They both require a level of man power as well as some resources including landed properties and financial commitments. You would also need some time for whatever you are growing to develop and produce results.
Despite having so much in common, they also have a lot of differences, which is the reason for this post. You can pull off a great garden on your own with little or no resources. On the other hand, you are not likely to do well with farming if you do not have reasonable capital.
