Career in Botany in India: Courses, Colleges, Job & Salary

Career in Botany in India: Aspirants studying plant and plant-like organisms can pursue their career as biological scientists or botanists after completing their degree in Botany. The main focus of the students will be on learning about the small bacteria to giant trees. Students who wish to pursue a career in Botany can call themselves future Botanists. Other than Botanist, the terms used for scientists studying Botany are plant scientists or phytologists.

Candidates learning Botany will learn about the fundamentals of how plants help in sustaining lives. Also, they will work for a clean energy economy for the easy survival of the generations. The aspirants should pursue their career in Botany to go through the complete article to better understand the course and career opportunities. In this article, we have provided all details on government jobs after B.Sc. Botany and also Botanist salary in India per month.

Career in Botany – What is Botany?

In the words of Joseph Paxton, a famous Botanist, “Botany, the science of vegetable kingdom, is one of the most attractive, most useful, and extensive departments of human knowledge. It is, above every other, the science of beauty”. To have a clear picture of the world of plants helping us in our survival, the aspirants can opt for Botany and walk along the string connected to humans via nature. Aspirants who will be pursuing Botany can learn about the depths of the plant kingdom. 

Career in Botany – Who is a Botanist?

A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a person who specialized in the study of Botany. These people classify and analyze the DNA sequence, proteomics, and genomics of a plant. Along with molecular genetic analysis, a botanist will also analyze the cells, tissues, and other internal functions and processes of a plant. 

Career in Botany – Job Profile

A career as a botanist can be the best choice for the students who are into plants, and the study of plants makes them happy. Botany can offer multiple career options to willing candidates. Students pursuing Botany as a career can opt for educational institutions, private or public sector companies in agriculture or forestry, biotechnology, environmental protection, drugs, genetics research, and food industries as career options. 

Also, students can make a career for themselves outside the nation; ecologists, foresters, chemical biologists, taxonomists, etc. being their career options. Aspirants having a mathematics background can opt for genetics, biophysics, developmental Botany or system ecology. At the same time, a student with a chemistry background will have options like a molecular biologist, plant physiologist or plant biochemist in their bag. 

Due to the drastic increase in air and water pollution in recent times, many new and powerful tools in technology and molecular biology have been created, which has indeed helped in fighting the climate change challenges. This also leads to great career opportunities for students, jobs dealing with electron microscopes, digital imaging analysis, radioisotopes, cell and tissue culture, etc. 

Weed scientist, Taxonomist, Researcher, Conservationist, Plant physiologist, Ecologist, Plant geneticists, a Plant biochemist, Palaeobotanist, etc., are the other job opportunities for students willing to make their career in Botany. Other than exploring the world of Botany, the jobs will also help the candidates to peg handsome salary. In this article, we have provided Botanist salary in India per month.

Career in Botany – Skills required to be a Botanist

As discussed above, there are multiple career options for students after completing their degree in Botany. Career in Botany in India offers a wide range of opportunities in Public sectors like the Botanical Survey of India (BSI), National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) and Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFR) also offer various jobs for botany graduates every year. Students can work in private and public sectors as Technical Assistants, Field Assistants or Scientific Assistants in both the private and government sectors. Other than these, the students can also look forward to work with nursery farms and environmental consultancies.

Aspirants willing to have a career based on their knowledge and learn in Botany will also be required to possess the below-mentioned skills to be eligible for desired jobs. The following skills are to be possessed by the aspiring botanists:

1. Candidates must have the ability to follow research activity alone
2. Must have good written communication
3. Must possess interest in conservation and in plant life
4. Aspirants must know how to investigative temperament and have scientific interest
5. The candidate must be persistent

Government Jobs After B.Sc. Botany

Students who are aspiring to work in government sector after completing their Bachelors degree in Botany have a wide range of opportunities. They can work as Project Assistant, Research Fellow, Junior Research Fellow (JRF), Senior Research Fellow (SRF), Research Assistant and many more.

Students can apply for several government jobs after B.Sc. Botany here.

Career in Botany – Roles and Salary of a Botanist

Below we have given the tabular representation of the career roles available for Botany aspirants and expected salary figures for the respective roles for the reference of the students. Here is the list of Botanist salary in India per month.

Career in Botany – How to be a Botanist?

To be a botanist, a candidate must possess a degree in Botany. Different degrees will require different eligibility criteria. Below we have given the course wise eligibility criteria for the reference of the willing aspirants. 

To be eligible for admission into the Bachelor course of Botany (B.Sc. Botany), the candidates must have qualified their 10+2 with a minimum aggregate of 50% to 60% in Biology, Physics, and Chemistry as the main subjects. Some colleges may take up direct admissions based on their scores in the qualifying exam, whereas on the other hand, some colleges may conduct an entrance exam for the same. The students must have qualified their 10+2 from a recognized school or institute affiliated to the respective board.

Career in Botany in India – Courses in Botany

There is a wide range of courses offered under the branch of Botany across various institutes and universities. Below we have listed the names of the undergraduate, post graduate, and PhD courses offered by the reputed colleges in India for the reference of the aspiring botanists. 

Bachelor Degree Courses in Botany:

1. Bachelor in Science (B.Sc. Botany) 
2. Bachelor in Science (B.Sc. Plant Biology) 
3. Bachelor in Science (B.Sc. Plant Biotechnology)

Master Degree Courses in Botany:

1. Master of Philosophy (M Phil) in Botany 
2. Master of Philosophy (M Phil) in Life Sciences (Botany) 
3. Master of Science (M.Sc) in Applied Botany
4. Master of Science (M.Sc) in Botany 
5. Master of Science (M.Sc) in Botany (Hons) 
6. Master of Science (M.Sc) in Botany and Forestry 
7. Master of Science (M.Sc) in Herbal Science 
8. Post-Graduate Diploma (PGDip) in Life Science 
9. Post-Graduate Diploma (PGDip) in Medical Botany 
10. Post-Graduate Diploma (PGDip) in Plant Biodiversity 
11. Post-Graduate Diploma (PGDip) in Plant Tissue Culture 

Doctorate Degree Course in Botany:

1. PhD in Botany 
2. PhD in Life Science (Botany)

Career in Botany – What is the difference between a regular course and an honors degree?

The major difference between a regular or general degree and honors degree is that the general degree is a multidisciplinary approach, whereas an honors degree deals with specialization in one major subject.

An honors degree will have a standardized curriculum, whereas a general degree is considered to be regular and common.

As compared to an honors degree, passing a general degree is easier. To qualify an honors degree, the candidates will be required to qualify subject centric papers. 

Other than the common Botany courses mentioned above, there are various high value specialization courses available for students in Botany. As per their preference and interests, the students can choose from the below listed specialization courses:

1. Agronomy 
2. Economic Botany and Weed Science
3. Forestry 
4. PalaeoBotany 
5. Phycology 
6. Phytopathology
7. Plant Genetics 
8. Plant of Ecology 
9. Plant Systematics 
10. Plant Taxonomy 

Career in Botany in India – Top Colleges

Below we have given the names of the top colleges for Botany in India along with the course duration and fee insights. Aspirants willing to make a career in Botany can go through the tables mentioned below for reference.

Top colleges for Botany in India:

FAQs on Career in Botany

Q.1: Is Botany a good career option?
Ans: Yes, Botany can be a good career option for aspiring botanists. The students can work for various private and public sectors as Technical Assistants, Field Assistants or Scientific Assistants. Also, they can opt for other career options as mentioned above in this article.

Q.2: What is the salary offered to a Botanist in India?
Ans: The salary for the botanists will vary from role to role and industry to industry. The pay scale for a botanist will be as follows-

Q.3: Which is the best course to opt for after completing B.Sc in botany?
Ans: After completing B.Sc in Botany, the students can opt for M.Sc in Biotechnology. As, this course will deal with the application and technology in living organisms. Whereas, M.Sc in botany will only help in learning the core concepts of the subject.

Q.4: What is the scope in B.Sc botany?
Ans: Careers in Botany and Horticulture are vast after completing B.Sc. Botany degree. Candidates can work as plant explorer, conservationist, ecologist, environment consultant, horticulturist, plant biochemist, nursery manager, genetics, molecular biologist, taxonomist, plant pathologist, environmental consultant and farming consultant. 

Q.5: What is the scope after B.Sc (Hons) in Botany?
Ans: After completing B.Sc (Hons) degree in Botany, the candidates can make their career as Botanist, Biological Technician, Conservationist, Ecologist, Environment Consultant, EthnoBotanist, Farming Consultant, Florist, Forester, Forest Ranger, Geneticist, Horticulturist, Molecular Biologist, Mycologist, Nursery Manager, Palaeobotanist, Plant Biochemist, etc. 

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