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Nursery Production of Evergreen Fruit Plants

Introduction

A nursery is a controlled site for the production of seedlings either by seeds or vegetative methods under optimal conditions before they are ready to be planted. The prime aim of a nursery is to produce sufficient amount of good quality healthy planting material to meet up the consumer needs. Fruit production is the source for the employment and livelihood of many people in India. The fruit growers have been adopting conventional, tried-and-tested methods for eons. With the increase in the population the demand for the fruits has been increasing in both the domestic and foreign export markets. As a result, the demand for quality planting materials has increased many folds and the nursery sector in our country has grown rapidly in recent years. True-to-type, healthy planting material is required for the production of highly productive and disease resistant fruit plants. Hence, a healthy nursery with quality planting material is the key to a highly successful and productive orchard. 

Settlement of a fruit nursery:

There are certain recommendations for maintaining the proper nursery hygiene and avoiding the risk of insect-pests harming the health of quality planting material in the nursery. Certain considerations to be kept in mind before the setting up of a nursery are: 

Site  

  • It must be built in an area which is agro-climatically favorable for the production of envisaged crops.

  • Gentle slopes are preferred as they attain good drainage and encourage air circulation.  

  • Soil should be rich in nutrients, organic matter.

  • Sufficient space should be there for construction of plant houses, work areas (for media preparation, media filling, grafting), storage houses (separate chemical stores), offices, amenities, pathways and parking for vehicles.

  • It should be near to reliable source of water that is enough for current and future needs.

  • It should be kept isolated from the orchard of same crop as they can act as a vector for insect-pests and various pathogens leading to spread of diseases in the nursery. 

  • There should be a reliable power source of electricity (no hindrance in automated irrigation system).

Production areas 

Separate structures are raised for carrying different operations in the nursery. 

Structure/Area 

Operation carried 

Propagation house 

Seed sowing, grafting/budding  

Mother block 

Primary repository of true to type material 

Pot-filling  

Potting of germinated seedlings or grafted trees 

Plant house 

Growing of potted plants, hardening-off plants 

Dispatch house 

Sorting out trees prior to transplanting 

Chemical store 

Storing and preparation of chemicals  

Irrigation unit 

Water treatment system 

Store house 

Storing equipment, machinery and other supplies   

Support services 

Administration office and customer reception  

fruits

Plant house

Protected environment conditions by controlling heat, light and wind is provided inside the plant houses promoting the growth of seedlings. Basically, plant houses are of three types 

  • Detached– stand independently and may have access to work area or plant house. E.g. Quonset and gable houses.    

  • Lean-to– leans against wall of any pre-existing structure   

  • Ridge/furrow– two or more houses are connected at the eave with a common gutter. As the span area connected by gutter expands, heat and light becomes less uniform and difficult to control. 

Different structural components are available in the market for the framing and covering of these plant houses. Earlier, bamboo frames were used for the framing but in modern day’s aluminum or steel are used for the construction of frames.  

Appropriate covering material should be selected for the frames. It should allow sufficient light to pass through it and retain enough heat energy inside. 

Covering material 

characteristics 

Glass 

90 % light transmittance 

Acrylic 

Long service life, high coefficient of expansion and contraction, 80 % light transmittance, inflammable and costly 

Polycarbonate  

Low inflammability, 78 % light transmittance but reduces with life 

Fiberglass reinforced plastic panels (FRP)  

80 % light transmittance, 6- 12 years of life spam 

Polyethylene 

88 % light transmittance, UV stabilized sheet, 200 micron (0.2mm) thickness  

Temperature management in plant houses 

The temperature can be managed by using shade nets of selective color, positioning of plant containers and irrigation timely. During the summers heat buildup can be reduced by increasing the shade. Internal screening of plant houses is done with a green shade cloth for reducing heat in summers, conserving heat in winters and allowing proper air circulation. However, greenhouses provide better controlled conditions than screen/shade houses, with in-built ventilation windows, watering systems and evaporative coolers. 

Media/Pot mixture preparation

The good quality media should consist of all types of essential ingredients required to aid the healthy growth of seeds and seedlings grown. Various ingredients used in the media preparation differ in their capacity to maintain drainage, aeration, hold nutrients and release of toxins. The growing media should be slightly acidic – neutral with pH of 6 – 6.5.Different organic and inorganic ingredients used in the media preparation are as: 

Inorganic ingredients

Product 

Aeration 

Water holding 

Nutrient holding 

Toxins 

Vermiculite 

Good 

Good 

Fair 

Low salinity 

Washed river sand 

Fair - good 

Poor 

Poor 

Low salinity  

Perlite  

High  

High  

Good  

Low  

Canal silt  

Poor  

Moderate  

Variable  

Variable  

 

Organic ingredients 

Product 

Aeration 

Water holding 

Nutrient holding 

Toxins 

Rice hulls 

Very good  

Poor  

Poor  

Low salinity  

Cocopeat  

Good  

Very good  

Good  

Variable salinity  

Bagasse  

Variable  

Very good  

Good  

Low salinity  

Animal manure  

Good  

Good  

Good  

Toxic if not composted   

Peat moss 

Good  

Very good  

Very good  

Low salinity  

Pine bark 

Good  

Fair  

Fair – Good  

Low if well composted  

Sawdust 

Generally fair 

Fair  

Good  

Low if well composted  

Press mud  

Very poor  

Prone to waterlogging  

K rich  

High K 

The ingredients are chosen according to the climate, crop grown and local availability. The ingredients are mixed in equal (1:1:1) proportion with the sand and garden soil. Coco coir is popularly used worldwide for the media preparation in the nursery. This media is wrapped in a clear, thin, UV-resistant plastic sheet (25–50 µm) and solarized for a period of 5 – 15 days. 

Plant containers 

The nursery plants can be grown on the ground or in the containers. Complete growth period from the germination of seed to final sale ready grafted plant can be attained in a single container avoiding the transplanting damage. There are many kind of containers used in nurseries which are made of different materials: 

  • Jiffy pots– These are biodegradable pots made of compressed peat. The roots even penetrate into the container walls and reduces the root curling. 

  • Poly-bags– These are made of polyethylene sheets with drainage holes at bottom. Sometimes, the roots get spiraled up at the base resulting in the restriction of plant growth. 

  • Root trainers– These have internal vertical ribs which encourage the roots to grow downward (tap root) and reduces root curling. They can be set above the ground in order to air prune the roots. It offers a great survival rate to the plants and get plants ready earlier to polybags. 

Mother block/ Bud line  

The production of true to type quality material is the major aim of the nursery. For the production/supplication of healthy planting material it’s necessary that scion/bud wood should be collected from true to type mother plants. Since, for the regular supply and timely availability of the scion/bud material, mother block is raised in the nursery where high yielding clones of the registered and released varieties of the fruit crops are maintained inside the mother block. These mother plants should be obtained from authentic/reliable sources like research stations, government nurseries or from registered nurseries of repute. The maintained lines should be labeled as per variety and be numbered serially. The layout of different varieties grown inside the mother block should be maintained in a register. Genetic purity (true to variety), healthy, vigorous and high yield are some of the considerations foe the selection of mother plants. All the commercial agronomic operations are carried out inside the mother block specific to variety recommendations. Regular pruning is done for the production enough scion wood for propagation. Rigorous monitoring should be done to keep plants free from the insect pests and diseases.  

Quality propagule production 

Production of the quality planting material with preserving the characteristics of mother plant is done in two ways: 

  • Sexual propagation 

  • Asexual/vegetative propagation 

Sexual propagation

The sexual propagation of the planting material is done by the means of seed. The mature seed constitutes of three parts: a) outer seed coat, protecting the seed, b) endosperm, which is the food reserve and c) the embryo, which is the plant itself. When seed gets favorable environment, it germinates and starts its active growth. Seed is the easiest mean of propagation and is a source for rootstock production. Healthy rootstocks can be produced which will impart good impact on the vigor, precocity, yield and longevity of the scion. 

Seed collection, extraction and sowing

The seeds are collected from seed bank/orchard. Otherwise, healthy mature fruits have been collected from the trees, just prior to falling to so as to avoid exposure to soil moisture and microorganisms. The seeds are extracted out of the fruit, cleaned and treated with fungicide (Thiram or Captan @ 2 g/kg seeds) without causing any damage to seed. It is generally advocated to use fresh seed for seedling raising. The orthodox seeds (guava, cashew etc.) which can retain its viability for long period can be stored and sown later, but recalcitrant seeds (citrus, mango, jackfruit, avocado, mangosteen, lychee, rubber, cocoa etc.) need to be sown immediately after extraction.     

Pre sowing treatment

Seeds are subjected to pre sowing treatments with different chemicals to overcome dormancy, increase the germination index, uniform germination and seedling vigour. In most of the methods seeds are treated for 24 hours prior to sowing while, it take few to several days in others. The treatment are applied according to the nature and dormancy characters of the seed to be treated. The most commonly used methods are: 

  • Hot water soaking (Mango, jamun)

  • Cold water soaking (Ber, Guava, macadamia Nut)

  • Boiled water treatment 

  • Scarification (mechanical, acid, manual) methods (Guava, ber, jackfruit)

  • Fire/heating methods 

  • Alternate wetting and drying

  • Soaking in chemicals  

Crop 

Chemical 

Rate of application 

Cultivars preferred  

Mango 

GA₃ 

KNO₃ 

100 ppm 

0.5 %            (Aatla et al. 2013) 

Olour, Goa, Kensington Pride, Vellaikulumban   

Citrus  

ZnSO4 

GA₃ 

1500 ppm 

2000 ppm     (Sharaf et al. 2016) 

Rough Lemon, Karna Khatta, Trifoliate Orange, Troyer Citrange, Rangpur Lime, Gajanimma, Grapefruit 

Guava  

GA₃  

HCl 

1000 ppm 

10 %             (Dinesh et al. 2019) 

Pusa Srijan 

Jackfruit 

GA₃ 

NAA 

MH 

200 ppm 

50 ppm         (Harshavardhan, 2012) 

1000 ppm     (Singh et al. 2002) 

NS – 1, Black Gold  

Ber  

GA₃  

200 ppm       (Hore et al. 1994)  

Jhar Ber, Banarasi Karka  

Karonda 

Cow urine 

GA₃ 

25 %             (Shreesty, 2019) 

25 ppm         (Bankar, 1987) 

Konkan bold, CHES K-II-7, CHESK-35. 

Papaya  

KNO₃ 

Thiourea 

BA  

GA₃ 

1 % 

1000 ppm 

100 ppm 

100 ppm      (Arjun et al. 2017) 

Solo, Honey Dew, Washington, Coorg Green 

Sapota  

KNO₃ 

GA3 

Triacontanol  

1 % 

100 ppm 

0.1 %          (Shirol et al. 2005) 

Rayan, Khirni 

Aonla  

KNO₃ 

GA₃ 

1 %             (Chiranjeevi et al. 2017) 

600 ppm     (Rinku et al. 2019) 

Banarasi, Local cultivars 

Custard apple 

Thiourea 

Cow dung slurry  

1 %  

10 %          (Mane et al. 2018) 

soursop, sugar apple or pond apple 

Loquat  

GA₃ 

250 ppm    (El-Refaey, 2005) 

Henry, Mark, Ulleta, Wild loquat 

The seeds should be sown at appropriate distance and depth in the nursery beds. 

Asexual/Vegetative propagation

True to type plants identical to the mother plants are raised by the vegetative means. Cuttings can be obtained from the mother block and planted directly in the field or operations like grafting, budding, layering can be practiced on the previously growing seedlings in the nursery. The vegetative methods of propagation for different crops are: 

Crop  

method  

Time  

Cultivars preferred  

Mango  

Grafting  

May – June 

Alphonso, Sindhu, Ratna, Amarpalli, Kesar  

Guava  

Budding 

Air-layering 

June – July  

L-49, Shweta, Lalit, Red Flesh, Allahabad Safeda 

Citrus  

T-Budding 

Inverted-T  

Mar/Sept 

Jul – Aug 

Nagpur Santra, Kinnow mandarin, Valencia, Malta, Mosambi, Hamlin, Jaffa, Kagzi Lime, Baramasi Lemon 

Pomegranate 

Cutting, 

Air-layering 

July – Aug 

Bhagwa, Kandhari, Ganesh, Sinduri, Jalore Seedless 

Grapes 

Cutting/grafting  

Feb – Mar 

Thompson Seedless, Sonaka, Sharad Seedless, Perlet 

Aonla 

Shield budding 

Softwood Graft 

June – Aug  

Chakaiya, Kanchan, Krishna, NA 6, NA 7, NA 10. 

Ber 

Shield budding 

June – Sept  

Umran, Seb, Gola, Kaithli, Goma Kirti, Mundia 

Sapota 

Approach graft 

Feb – Mar  

Cricket Ball, Kalipatti 

Custard Apple 

Budding  

June – Sep  

Arka Sahan, Red Sitaphal, Mammonth 

Bael 

Budding  

June – Aug  

Pant Nagar Selections, NB 5, NB 9 

Datepalm 

Off shoots /Suckers 

Aug – Sept  

Feb – Mar   

Zahidi, Halawy, Khunaizi, Medjool, Barhee 

Karonda  

Air layering  

Budding  

June – July  

Pant Manohar, Pant Suvarna, Pant Sudarshan. 

Micropropagation  

It is a vegetative method for the production of genetically identical plants by tissue culture techniques. A plant tissue (explant) is cut from the plant, disinfested and placed on a growing medium (Murashige medium). This explant is introduced to a cytokinin and auxin rich medium where shoot and root formation occurs. Later, these plants are taken out of medium and acclimatized for growing in open conditions. Aonla, mango, bael, banana, and guava are observed to be successfully growing by micropropagaion. 

Nursery Hygiene 

The hygiene maintenance aims at keeping nursery weeds, insect-pests and disease free. Different activities involved in hygiene management are: 

  • Heathy planting material

  • Control access activities and manage people

  • Clean working areas and sterilized equipment’s

  • Clean water 

  • Waste management

Nutritional disorders, weeds, pests  and disease management

The plants should be supplied with adequate nutrients for maintaining the healthier and fast growth. Fertilizers should be applied either directly in the plant containers or foliar application should be done. 

Weeding should be practiced at defined intervals to reduce the competition for the nutrients among the plants. Many microorganisms may arise in the nursery from numerous sources present in the field or outside by wind or rains. These microorganisms acts as a source for different pests and diseases. So, IPM procedures should be followed and target sprays are on the plants with symptoms. 

Production skills and market orientation 

As a specialized commercial enterprise, the success of a nursery depends upon the quality of the planting material raised by it. Plant age, height, stock-scion variety, nutritional status are some of the factors that must be taken into consideration for improving the sale. The infrastructure raised (polyhouses, shadenets etc.) should be utilized efficiently. Advertisements should be made through various social networks and publically for accentuation. 

Conclusion 

Demand for the quality planting material of fruit crops has been increasing tremendously over the years. Most of the orchards are raised on poor quality seedlings making them susceptible to different diseases-disorders and low production per capita. Hence, nursery production is a good entrepreneurial tool for the production of large quantity of planting material in a limited space and act as a source of livelihood for many people.       

References  

  1. Aatla, Hima Bindu and Srihari D (2013). Influence of pre-sowing treatments on germination, growth and vigor of mango cv. ALPHONSO, Asian J. Hort., 8(1: 122-125.

  2. Dinesh A, Padmapriya S, M Kavino, K Raja and KB Sujatha (2019). Effect of different physical and chemical methods of seed treatment on germination and seedling growth attributes of guava (Psidium guajava), Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry; 8(3): 4373-4377.

  3. Hore J K and Sen SK (1994). Role of presowing seed treatment on germination,seedling growth and longevity of Ber (Zizyphus mauritiana ) seeds. Indian J. Agric. Sci., 28:285-289. 

  4. Singh D K, Bhattacharya B and Mondal K (2002). Role of pre-sowing seed treatment with different chemicals on germination behavior and seedling growth of Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus).Env. and Eco, 20:741-743. 

  5. Bankar G J (1987). A note on influence of gibberellic acid on seed germination and vigour of seedlings in Karonda (Carissa carandas).Prog. Hort., 19:90-92. 

  6. Bertocci F, Vecchio V and Casini P (1997). Effect of seed treatment on germinationresponse of Papaya (Carica papaya ).Ad v. in Hort. Sci., 11:99-102 

  7. Shirol A M, Hanamashetti S I, Kanamadi V C, Thammaiah N and Patil S (2005). Studies on pre-soaking, method and season of grafting of Sapota rootstockKhirnee.  Agric. Sci.,18:96-100. 

  8. Harshavardhan Aand Rajasekhar M (2012). Effect of pre-sowing seed treatments on seedling growth of jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus). Journal of Research ANGRAU, Vol.40 No.4 pp.87-89. 

  9. Shreesty Pal, T R Sharma and Nagar O P (2019). Effect of Cow Urine and Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) on Seed Germination, Growth and Survival of Karonda (Carissa carandas L.) Seedlings. Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci. 8(11): 1967-1978.

  10. Rinku Verma, C S Pandey, S K Pandey and Kumudani Sahu (2019). Influence of Pre-Sowing Seed Treatment and Growing Conditions on Growth Performance of Indian Gooseberry Seedlings (Emblica officinalisGaertn). Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci. 8(03): 1936-1948. 

  11. Chiranjeevi M R, B M Muralidhara, M K Sneha and Shivanand Hongal (2017). Effect of Growth Regulators and Biofertilizers on Germination and Seedling Growth of Aonla (Emblica officinalisGaertn). J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci. 6(12): 1320-1326. 

  12. Mane S B, Jaiswal SB, Parse R N and Naglot U M (2018). Effect of Different Pre-Sowing Treatment on Seed Germination and Growth in Custard Apple (Annona squmosa). International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Special Issue-6 pp. 1744-1748.

  13. Arjun Manohar Parab, J C Mathad and K V Malshe (2017). Effect of pre-soaking chemicals on germination and subsequent seedling growth of papaya (Carica papaya) cv. Solo. International Journal of Chemical Studies; 5(4): 1812-1816.

  14. El-Refaey F A and El-Dengawy (2005). Promotion of seed germination and subsequent seedling growth of loquat (Eriobotrya japonica, Lindl) by moist-chilling and GA3 applications. Scientia Horticulturae 105: 331–342.  

  15. Sharaf M M, Atawia A R, Bakry K A and EL-Rouby M Z (2016). Effect of Pre-Sowing Seeds Soak in Different GA3 and ZnSo4 Solutions on Germination and Growth of Cleopatra Mandarin and Rangpur Lime Rootstocks.Middle East J. Agric. Res., 5(2): 233-238, ISSN: 2077-4605. 

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