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Qualification - Certificate In Herbs

Course CodeVHT014
Fee CodeCT
Duration (approx)600 hours
QualificationCertificate

Learn all about the Herb Industry

  • How to identify, grow, harvest and process herbs
  • Creating, Using and Marketing Herb Products
  • Gardening and Landscaping with Herbs
  • Starting and Managing Different Types of Herb Enterprises

Why study here?

ACS is different in many ways....
  • Established since 1979, Internationally recognised (IARC)
  • Support from an international team of highly qualified herb experts
  • Courses are continually reviewed and revisions are happening every month of the year
  • Courses are "experiential" based learning (This is different to many other schools)


Duration:
  100 hours

Course Structure:

There are 30 lessons as follows:

1. Introduction

2. Overview of Herb Varieties

3. Soils & Nutrition

4. Herb Culture

5. Propagation Techniques

6. Pests & Disease Control

7. Harvesting Herbs

8. Processing Herbs

9. Using Herbs: Herb Crafts

10. Using Herbs: Herbs for Cooking

11. Using Herbs: Medicinal Herbs

12. Herb Farming

12. Herb Garden Design

14. Constructing a Herb Garden

15. Managing a Herb Nursery

16. Lavenders

17. Mints

18. Lamiaceae Herbs

19. Garlic

20. The Asteraceae (Compositae) Herbs

21. The Apiaceae Family

22. Other Herbs

23. Topiary & Hedges

24. Producing Herb Products  A

35. Producing Herb Products  B

26. Producing Herb Products  C

27. Marketing in the Herb Industry

28. Budgeting & Business Planning

29. Workforce Design & Management

30. Major Research Project

Enrolment Fee does not include exam fees


Types of Herb Products You Might Produce

The types of goods that can be produced from herbs is virtually endless. They can be grouped in to a number of
main types. These are:
  • Fresh: principally for culinary use, sometimes as stock feed.
  • Dried: widely used for culinary use, as floral or dried arrangements, and for providing fragrance.
  • Processed: this includes those herbs that have further treatment in some way, for example, crushing or powdering. These types are commonly used in medicinals and cosmetics.
  • Essential Oils: These are widely used as medicinals, for aromatherapy, as flavourings or condiments, as pesticides, as fixatives or bases for other ingredients (ie: in perfumes) and as massage oils.

Growing Herbs Commercially
Global demand for herbal products, both fresh and processed; is strong, and has been growing annually for decades. It was estimated that the demand for spices, condiments and similar products was increasing by, up to 20% annually (Miller & Harper: Herb Market Report Vol.5, No.11), in the late 20th century; and growth has not diminished in any way since then.. There is considerable potential to grow herbs as an alternative to existing mainstream crops that are in oversupply. There is not much point in producing a product if there is no demand for it. If there is demand, however, and you can produce goods of consistent quality at a competitive price then you should be able to sell your crop profitably. 
 
Herbs have several other advantages as a commercial crop. Many can be grown in areas with poor soil or limited water
supply. Generally much less growing space is required than for more commonly grown crops. The end products are generally small in volume, so storage, packaging, and transport requirements are not usually as high as for other crops.
Many herbs also have high pest and disease resistance so the use of pesticides can be greatly reduced. There is also considerable potential for value added products, for example herb vinegars or wines, craft items, and cooked herb goods.
 
Herbs can be grown commercially in many different ways, and can be marketed in many different forms, on a large scale or small. Some commercial herb farms are many hundreds of acres, but others can be viable on less than half an acre.
 
Broad acre crops can be an excellent way of growing larger sized herbs, or where large quantities of the crop are required. This can happen where there is sufficient demand for large quantities of the fresh crop, or when large quantities of the ‘raw’ crop are required to provide sufficient quantities after processing of the ‘finished’ crop. For example, processing of essential oils where oil content may be only 1 or 2% of the raw material. Broad acre cropping of herbs can be a good alternative for
established growers who are looking for something new to grow. For new growers this type of growing may be very expensive to set up.

 

Who Will Benefit From This Course?

Those who want to:

  • Work as a consultant
  • Set up a Herb Farm
  • Work on a Herb Farm or in  Herb Nursery

 

 

 

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