2001---HORTICULTURAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING REQUIREMENTS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

So what skills will the professional horticulturists require in the next Century?

One thing is certain, change is likely to be frequent and rapid, so that retraining is likely to be as important as the initial training. Who could have foreseen the developments in computers or in molecular biology in a mere 20 years?

With the information explosion likely to accelerate, the challenge will be to decide what not to teach.

Horticulture has major problems in this area, because essentially it is a science based technology, and thus the most recent scientific breakthrough is inevitably the most interesting and stimulating. However this poses problems, because although there is a need to provide information in a stimulating and exciting manner there is a danger of the more basic information being regarded as 'old hat' and boring.

Last but not least will be the selection of an appropriate curriculum.

I would define the requirement for the 21st century as follows:

1. To develop a basic package of essential horticultural information,
2. To stimulate the development of an enquiring mind and a critical faculty in all things horticultural.

In the final analysis we will need to keep our feet clearly on the ground, and not to be seduced by the powerful attractions of pure science. We need to remember that our objective is to educate horticulturists and that plant physiology, plant pathology, biochemistry, and molecular biology, though very important in their own right, are just some of the tools we use, and not our raison d'etre.

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