Nursery Sowing :: An Introduction

Wet nursery

Nursery area

Select 20 cents (800 m2) of land area near to water source for raising seedlings for one hectare.

Seed rate

30 kg for long duration

40 kg for medium duration

60 kg for short duration varieties and 20 kg for hybrids

Forming Seedbeds

Mark plots of 2.5m breadth with channels 30cm wide all around the seedbeds.

Length of the seed bed may vary from 8 to 10m according to soil and slope of the land.

Collect the puddled soil from the channel and spread on the seedbeds or drag a heavy stone along the channel to lower it,

so that the seed bed is at a higher level.

Sowing :: Sow the sprouted seeds uniformly on the seedbed having thin film of water in the surface.

Dry nursery

Dry ploughed field with fine tilth is required.

Nursery area with sand and loamy soil status is more suitable for this type of nursery.

Area 20 cents .

Plots of 1 to 1.5 m width of beds and channels may be formed. Length may be according to the slope and soil. Raised beds are more ideal if the soil is clayey in nature.

Seed rate and seed treatment as that of wet nursery.

Sowing may be dry seeding. Seeds may be covered with sand and finely powdered well decomposed farm yard manure.

Irrigation may be done to wet the soil to saturation.

Optimum age for transplanting – 4th leaf stage

This type of nursery is handy in times of delayed receipt of canal water.

During transplanting seedlings may be dipped in 2% ZnSO4 or ZnO for 30 min and then transplanted.