Growth and Development of Horticultural Crops (1+1)

Definition-Growth

• Growth is defined as an irreversible increase in size and it may be evaluated by measurements of mass, length or height, surface area or volume. Growth is restricted only to living cells and is accomplished by metabolic processes involving synthesize of macromolecules, such as nucleic acids, proteins, lipids and polysaccharides at the expense of metabolic energy.
• Growth at cellular level is also accompanied by the organization of macromolecules into assemblages of membranes, plastids, mitochondria, ribosomes and other cell organelles. Cells do not definitely increase in size but divide, giving rise to daughter cells. An important process during cell division is synthesis and replication of nuclear DNA in the chromosomes, which is then passed into the daughter cells.
• Therefore, the term growth is used to denote an increase in size by cell division and cell enlargement, together with the synthesis of new cellulose materials and the organization of cellulose organelles. Growth is also defined as a vital process which brings about a permanent change in any plant or its part in respect to its size, form, weight and volume.