Horticulture & Controlled Environments

Fruit, vegetables, vines and ornamentals, greenhouses and postharvest.

Horticulture covers intensively managed crops: fruit trees, berries, grapevines, vegetables, and ornamental plants. Typical research topics include flowering and fruit set, dormancy and chilling requirements, rootstocks, pruning and orchard or vineyard management.

Controlled-environment production - greenhouses, vertical farms, hydroponics and aquaponics - and postharvest science, which studies how quality and shelf life of fresh produce can be preserved after harvest, are major parts of the discipline.

Studying horticulture & controlled environments

Degree programs in this subject often run under these names:

What you typically learn

  • Fruit, vegetable and ornamental crop production
  • Greenhouse and controlled-environment cultivation
  • Viticulture and wine making
  • Postharvest handling and storage
  • Plant propagation and nursery production
  • Horticultural business and marketing

Where graduates typically work

  • Fruit, vegetable and nursery enterprises
  • Greenhouse and vertical farming businesses
  • Wineries and vineyards
  • Postharvest, packing and trade
  • Advisory services and research stations

Curricula differ by country and institution - the program pages linked below have the details.

Where to study horticulture & controlled environments

34 programs in 19 countries. See all 34 programs

Where research is heading

Typical research questions

  • How can fruit quality and shelf life be preserved from harvest to consumer?
  • How does light spectrum and intensity affect growth in greenhouses and vertical farms?
  • How will warmer winters affect chilling requirements and flowering of fruit trees?
  • How can water and energy use in controlled-environment production be reduced?

Publications per year

Papers whose main topic belongs to this field, 2010–2025.

0 15k 30k2010: 21,27920102011: 20,9972012: 22,2882013: 22,6482014: 23,3882015: 24,44820152016: 23,3442017: 24,0442018: 25,2812019: 26,6032020: 25,46520202021: 23,6742022: 22,3232023: 24,7512024: 24,3822025: 27,4292025

Research fronts: fastest-growing topics

Papers 2024–2025 compared with 2021–2022, topics with at least 500 recent papers.

Topic2021–20222024–2025Change
Innovations in Aquaponics and Hydroponics SystemsAquaponics · Sustainability · Hydroponics · Nutrient Recycling1,3172,789+112%
Shallot Cultivation and AnalysisPlant-Microbe Interactions · Organic Fertilizers · Shallot Farming · Phosphate Solubilization9501,353+42%
Flowering Plant Growth and CultivationPlant Growth Regulators · Temperature Control · Flowering Pathway · Carbohydrate Accumulation2,0892,963+42%
Urban Agriculture and SustainabilityUrban Agriculture · Community Gardens · Food Security · Sustainability3,0934,023+30%
Greenhouse Technology and Climate ControlPlant Architecture · Functional–Structural Plant Modelling · Greenhouse Climate Control · Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)2,8673,696+29%
Date Palm Research StudiesAntioxidant Activity · Phenolic Profile · Nutritional Composition · Genome Sequencing2,0852,575+24%

Largest topics

By number of papers 2024–2025.

  1. Plant Physiology and Cultivation StudiesFruit Trees · Dormancy · Chilling Requirement · Rootstock 8,021
  2. Horticultural and Viticultural ResearchGrapevine · Genetics · Climate Change · Wine Quality 7,424
  3. Banana Cultivation and ResearchBanana · Genetics · Domestication · Mycosphaerella fijiensis 4,893
  4. Urban Agriculture and SustainabilityUrban Agriculture · Community Gardens · Food Security · Sustainability 4,023
  5. Postharvest Quality and Shelf Life ManagementFruit Ripening · Ethylene Biosynthesis · Postharvest Factors · Horticultural Crops 3,895
  6. Greenhouse Technology and Climate ControlPlant Architecture · Functional–Structural Plant Modelling · Greenhouse Climate Control · Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) 3,696

Highly cited recent papers

Most-cited articles and reviews published 2024–2025. Citation counts favor reviews and papers published early in the window.

  1. Development of a Low-Cost Banana Fiber Extractor N.O. Ukwu, Ifeanyichukwu Ugochukwu Onyenanu, Kennedy Chinedu Owuama · International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology (IJISRT) · 2024 · 388 citations · Open access
  2. Climate change impacts and adaptations of wine production Cornelis van Leeuwen, Giovanni Sgubin, Benjamin Bois et al. · Nature Reviews Earth & Environment · 2024 · 281 citations · Open access
  3. The role of light in regulating plant growth, development and sugar metabolism: a review Wen‐Yuan Wu, Long Chen, Rentao Liang et al. · Frontiers in Plant Science · 2025 · 178 citations · Open access
  4. Integrating digital technologies in agriculture for climate change adaptation and mitigation: State of the art and future perspectives Carlos Parra-López, Saker Ben Abdallah, Guillermo Garcia‐Garcia et al. · Computers and Electronics in Agriculture · 2024 · 145 citations · Open access
  5. Regulatory Networks Underlying Plant Responses and Adaptation to Cold Stress Yanglin Ding, Yiting Shi, Shuhua Yang · Annual Review of Genetics · 2024 · 139 citations · Open access
  6. Challenges of postharvest water loss in fruits: Mechanisms, influencing factors, and effective control strategies – A comprehensive review M. J. Gidado, Ahmad Anas Nagoor Gunny, Subash C.B. Gopinath et al. · Journal of Agriculture and Food Research · 2024 · 139 citations · Open access

All study programs in horticulture & controlled environments

All study programs