• Healthy planting material is necessary for successful

horticultural plantation. But raising healthy planting material is

a high skill and resource oriented activity.

• Many farmers now a days purchase planting materials from

professional nurseries, which provide healthy seedlings, in

required number and at right time to farmers .

• Irrigation system, finance, land, structures, labour, planting

material, chemicals and fertilizers etc are some of the

resources required for raising healthy nursery plants.

Introduction:

Information about nursery resource management at appropriate

time is important for the success of a nursery enterprise.

Credit /Finance:

•Nursery production for horticultural plants is highly capital

intensive. Timely availability of finance is necessary for

management of day to day activities in a nursery.

•Credit can be obtained from Government agencies like National

Horticultural Board, High Value Agriculture, National Horticulture

Mission, Nationalized Banks, Cooperatives.

Resources:

Land: • Availability of sufficient space for all nursery activities can

enable proper management of all other resources.

• Location of nursery also affects the sale of products and

expenses incurred on transportation of inputs.

• Available land must be laid out well into various sections and

all the sections must be connected by pathways.

• Land can be purchased or leased. It is one of the costliest

input in a nursery.

Resources:

Planting Material:

• Supply of healthy planting material to customers is the prime

objective of horticultural nursery for which production of

disease and pest free robust nursery plants is necessary.

• An extensive study of varieties demanded by farmers,

prevalent pest and disease incidences and agro-climatic

situation must be conducted before selecting the variety to be

propagated in the nursery.

• Planting material must be collected from authentic sources like

Government horticulture Nurseries, State Agricultural

Universities and should be free from diseases and pests.

Resources:

Structures: • Nursery stock is grown in different structures like greenhouse,

shade net house, walking tunnels, low tunnels, mist chambers

etc.

• These structures enable year round production in nursery and

efficient use of resources like planting material, irrigation water,

fertilizers, plant protection chemicals, etc.

Resources:

Poly house for Banana NurseryShade Net House for Mango Nursery

FYM:

• FYM is a rich organic source of nutrients and an important

constituent of media used in nursery. Best quality FYM is a

natural source of nutrients.

Resources:

Composting of farm residues for FYM preparation

• FYM can be prepared in the

farm using animal and crop

residues. It is a cheap source of

nutrients to plants.

• It improves physical condition of

soil through moisture and

nutrient retention.

Fertilizers:

• They are concentrated sources of plant nutrients which

promote growth and development of plant.

• Water soluble as well as conventional fertilizers are used in

nurseries. They are applied into soil, by hand or with

irrigation water.

• Water soluble fertilizers are also applied as foliar sprays

which improves the absorption of nutrients by plants.

Resource:

Irrigation:

•Water is the most important resource in a nursery as all metabolic

activities in plant tissue take place in presence of water. Irrigation

water with good quality and quantity must be available.

Plant Protection:

•Plants are prone to diseases and pests which can be controlled by

both organic and inorganic pesticides and fungicides. Timely

application of pesticides can control diseases and pests without

affecting growth of plants.

Resource:

Media:

•Planting material is planted in medium which is soil or non-soil

media. Amongst soil less media, Coco peat is used on large

scale in India as it best suited for germination and development

of plant .

Trays and Containers:

•Different containers are used in nursery like wooden or plastic

trays, pots, plastic sills, plug trays etc depending upon the size

and number of plants to be raised.

Other Resources:

Vegetable seedlings in Protrays

Grape Plants in Polybags.

Types of Trays and Containers:

Labor:

• A nursery requires skilled and unskilled labors to carry out various

operations. In case of labor shortage, mechanization is essential .

Other Resources:

Labors working in a Shade net House of a Nursery.

Technology:

• Technological advances like new propagation methods, safer

chemicals, better management practices need to be adopted to

maximize quality, quantity and profit from the production.

• With expensive labour, day to day operations in nursery become

difficult to perform. This affects the productivity and sustainability of

a nursery. Operations like filling, sowing, irrigation, climate control,

spraying etc. can be mechanized.

Other Resources: