Chapter 6:

Végétale Nursery Establishment Technique

Nursery
 Nursery is a place where young plants are raised with maximum
possible care from seeds, cutting, grafting and budding for the
purpose of transplanting to the field or for sale.
 Nurseries are categorized in different ways. According to time
duration nurseries :
Temporary Nursery –Developed only to fulfill the
requirement of the season or a targeted project
Permanent Nursery –The nursery is placed permanently
so as to produce plants continuously.

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 Cont’…
 Vegetable nurseries:- nursery seedlings of vegetables prepared

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 Cont’…
Suitable nursery site should be selected depending upon:
 Which type of nursery type (plants propagated)
 Durations of nursery
• The need for nursery establishment
 To give better condition of germination
 To apply optimum growing condition
 To eliminate weak and diseased plants
 To raise root stock for grafting or budding
 Many factors must be considered while selecting nursery site. The
most important:
 Water
 Soil
 Slope
 Access
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 Cont’…
 The location of a nursery site should be:
 Separated from the production field
 On land which was not previously planted under the same crop
 Out side the range of shade trees, hedge and buildings
 Near a source of water and permanent plantation site
 Protected from strong wind
 Near to road
 Fenced and clean and free from weeds
 Protected from direct sun light

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 Cont’…
 The location of a nursery site should be:
 Separated from the production field
 On land which was not previously planted under the same crop
 Out side the range of shade trees, hedge and buildings
 Near a source of water and permanent plantation site
 Protected from strong wind
 Near to road
 Fenced and clean and free from weeds
 Protected from direct sun light

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 Cont’…
Seedbed preparation
 In areas where floods occur, beds must be raised above the ground
 In dry areas beds can be lied below ground level (sunken bed)
 Layout the land into beds & prepare the beds with 1m width and a
length of 5m or 10m.
 Finally well rotten organic manure may be incorporated into the soil
 Seed sowing.
 Depth varies with seed size and type of germination.
 As the size of the seed increases its depth became deep and as rule of
thumb depth of sowing is 2-3 times the diameter of the seed.
 Shallow planting is used for plant spp. that have epigeous
germination.
Seeds can be sown in poly bags or directly on the seedbeds.
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 Options for seed sowing

Main planting field

Poly bag

Poly bag
Seedbed
 Nursery Management
 Nursery plants require due care and attention:
 Includes all such operations right from the emergence of young
plantlet till fully grown-up or are ready for uprooting & transplanting
or sale.
 Potting the seedling:
 Before planting of sapling in the pots, the pots should be filled up
with proper potting mixture.
 Now a days different size of earthen pots or plastic containers are
used for propagation.
 Sprouted cuttings, bulbs, corms or polythene bag grown plants can be
transferred in earthen pots for further growth.

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 Cont’…
 Manuring & Irrigation:
 Sufficient quantity of nutrients is not available in the soil used for
seedbed
 well rotten F.Y.M / compost and leaf mould is added to soil
 Irrigation either in the nursery beds or watering the pots is
needed.
 For potted plants hand watering is done & for beds low
pressure irrigation by hose pipe is usually given

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 Cont’…
 Plant protection measures:
• For better protection from pests, regular observation is essential
 Weed control
• Weeds compete with plants for food, space and other essentials. So timely
control of weeds is necessary.
 Measures against heat and cold
• The younger seedling is susceptible to strong sun and low temperature

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 Cont’…
 Hardening off
• This is a process of gradually adapting seedling to harsher field
conditions as compared to the very favorable conditions that
seedling are exposed to in the nursery
• It involves exposing seedling to full sunlight and a gradual
reduction of watering frequency starting one or two months before
planting out
• Harding off will archive:
 the stem becomes hard and stiff
 the crown becomes relatively short but vigorous
 the root system becomes compact and well developed

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 Packing of nursery plants
• Packing is the method or way in which the young plants are tied or kept
together till they are transplanted
 They do not lose their turgidity and are able to establish themselves
on the new site
 Ensures their success on transplanting

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 Chaper 7:
Management of Vegetable Farm

7.1.Cultivation is breaks the hard crust on the surface of the soil

and crumbles the earth a few centimeters below.
 The best time to cultivate is just as the weeds are breaking through
the soil surface because at this time the roots are small and do not
have much hold on the soil.

 Shallow cultivation is preferable to deep cultivation for all

vegetable crops under most conditions, especially after the roots
have grown to any considerable extent.

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 Cont’…
7.2. Mulching is one of the simplest but most beneficial practices in
vegetable production.
 Mulching is a practice of covering the soil around plants to improve crop
growth and development.
 Mulch materials may be organic, leaves, straw, grass
Advantage of mulching

 Reduces weed growth by smothering the seedling

 Decreases the spread of disease by diminishing the splashing of

pathogen containing soil particles on to the plant .

 Conserves soil moisture by decreasing evaporation of water from

the soil surface
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 Cont’…
 Decreases erosion by protecting the soil surface from contact rain

 Lowers soil temperature in hot area.

 Adds organic material to the soil on decomposition

 Improve and speed up seedling emergence in direct seeded plants.

 Shorten the growing seasons or promote crop maturity.

 Almost in all mulches soil temperatures are higher (by as much as

6-8oC), especially black polythene sheet.

 Improves the quality of fruits of some crops that lay their fruits on
the soil e.g. cucurbits, eggplants, etc.
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 Cont’…
7. 3. Irrigation
 Irrigation is artificial application of water to the soil for the
purpose of supplying the moisture essential for crop growth.

 The irrigation of vegetables is a necessity in most tropical

and subtropical areas and plants for a system to provide
adequate water, particularly in the dry season, should be made
well in advance of planting.

 Many irrigation systems are used and the system chosen

will depend largely on cost and the availability of materials.
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 Cont’…
 Many factors determine which system is right for you.
 Critical factors to consider:
Water Supply is the amount of water available and
the cost of the water will determine the amount of
land that can be irrigated and often the type of
system you should use.
Water Quality: Is in these cases consider systems that
deliver water directly on or below the surface such as drip
systems. Water high in salts may cause foliar damage if
sprayed directly on the plants.

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 Cont’…
 Soil Type: Light sandy soils are not well suited to furrow or surface irrigation
systems.
 Types of irrigation systems
1. Surface irrigation
Surface irrigation uses gravity flow to spread water over a field. Surface systems
are the least expensive to install, but have high labor requirements for operation.
Advantages of surface systems are: water deficits can be overcome rapidly; least
expensive of the major types of irrigations systems; low maintenance, and,
usually require the lowest level of management.
Disadvantages of surface systems are: least water use efficiency; lack uniformity
in water distribution, increase disease incidence especially in vining crops, and,
periodic depletion of soil oxygen which can cause yield reduction
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 Cont’…

2. Sprinkler irrigation
 is defined as a pressurized system where water is distributed through a
network of pipe lines to and in the field and applied through selected
sprinkler heads or water applicators.
Advantages of sprinkler systems are: readily automated, lend
themselves to chemigation and fertigation, reduced labor requirements
needed for irrigation can deliver precise quantities of water in an efficient
manner, and, are adaptable to a wide range of soil and topographic
conditions.
Disadvantages of sprinkler systems are: Initially high installation cost,
and, high maintenance costs.
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 Cont,,,
3. Drip irrigation
 is a slow, frequent application of water to the soil through emitters
or tubing. As only a small area of the total field is wetted.
Advantages of drip irrigation: limited water sources can be used;
precise water volume can be applied in the root zone reduced
nutrient leaching, disease development, weed growth, labor and
operating costs are obtainable, readily automated and well adapted
to chemigation and fertigation.
Disadvantages of drip irrigation: high initial investment, insect,
rodent and human damage to drip tape readily occurs.
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Those all types of irrigation

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 Cont,,,
 Irrigation scheduling
is the process of determining when to irrigate and how much water
to apply per irrigation.
Proper scheduling is essential for the efficient use of water,
energy and other production inputs such as fertilizer.
When to irrigate?
• Methods used to determine when to irrigate are plant indicators
and soil moisture measurement. Plant indicators involve
monitoring the plant's appearance for signs of water stress.
• The water budget techniques normally use equations to predict
irrigation requirements based on climatic and site factors.

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 Cont,,,

 Chemigation
is the application of fertilizer (fertigation), herbicides, insecticides,
fungicides and other chemicals through irrigation systems.
Recent advances in chemigation equipment and know how have
given growers a method of improving the effectiveness of
chemicals while reducing the amounts applied.

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 Cont,,,

7.4. Fertilization
7.4.1. Mineral fertilizer
A fertilizer is said to be complete when it contains the major nutrients,
nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
7.4.2. Organic and soil improving fertilizers
is fertilizers simply means that the nutrients contained in the product are
derived solely from the remains or a by-product of a once-living organism.

7.4.3. Soil improving crops

Green manure crops or cover crops constitute soil-improving crops where

the former is grown especially for soil improvement and prevention of soil
erosion.
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 Cont,,,
 Pests and their control in vegetable production

Weeds control

 Weed is a plant that is growing where it is not wanted. Weeds are

competitive and aggressive, capable of surviving in competition
with almost any crops, they are generally abundant, existing in
dense populations and producing prolific numbers of seeds.

 Weeds can seriously reduce the yields of vegetable crops by

competing with the crops for nutrients, water, soil oxygen, and
sunlight in some cases, by secreting toxic substances in to the soil.
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 Cont,,,
General control measures: Prevention begins with identification and
mapping of weeds in the field. Localized weed control treatments,
manual removal, or chemical treatments should be used in areas
with high concentrations of perennial weeds. Successful land
preparation is an effective method of weed control in fields.

2. Insect control
Insects must be carefully controlled during the field production of
vegetables. Insects cause injury to the outer leaves and reduce vigor of
the plant.
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 Cont,,,
3. Disease control
 Plant disease is the process, by which living or nonliving entities
interfere, over a period of time, with a plant functions. There are
parasitic and non-parasitic types of diseases.

 Diseases are classified into groups according to the pathogen,

which causes them.

 The most common diseases are caused by fungi but those due to
bacteria and viruses may be serious.

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 Post-planting Management Practices
 Irrigation and fertilization
• While the total rainfall during the year would suggest that there is
adequate water for tree growth and fruit production, that precipitation is
not uniformly distributed throughout the growing season.
• There are usually periods of moisture stress every year.
• Irrigation is advantageous on bearing trees during the 6-week period prior
to ripening and on young trees during any dry period of the summer.
 Control of pests (insects, diseases and weeds)
 Horticultural crops suffer from a number of different types of
diseases, insect pests, nematodes and weeds.
• Each crop and growing area has its own distinctive diseases & pests.
• Severity of these constraints varies from region to region and from
plantation to plantation.
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 End of chapter. 7

End of chapter. 7

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Deferent Vegetables and Fruit

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