Forest Nursery

Introduction to Forest Nursery
Ali Nawaz Bettani
PFI Peshawar

1. Introduction to Nurseries ALI NAWAZ BETTANI MSc Forestry PAKISTAN FOREST INSTITUTE PESHAWAR

2. Definitions and need Nursery : An nursery upon which young seedlings trees are raised for planting. ( A place where plants are grown to a usable size). Forest nursery : An area upon which young seedling trees are raised for forest planting. Need of forest nursery: 1: Direct seeding is seldom uniformly successful and artificial regeneration in most parts of Pakistan and must be accomplished by planting. 2: To make the seedlings available for planting outside the forest areas.

3. Key task Abandoned farmlands, priaries , and other denuded areas must, in most cases be forested by planting. Forest fires, by completely destroying the large areas of forests, often make regeneration by planting, the only practicable method. The required number strong plants at the right time of the desired species of the high grade at reasonable cost.

4. Types of nurseries 1) On the basis of water availability: a ) Dry nursery. b ) Wet nursery. 2) Time for working operations : a ) Permanent nursery. b ) Temporary nursery. 3 ) Root covering: a) Bare root nursery. b ) P-tube or potted nursery.

5. Factors determining success in production of nursery stock Degree of success in the production of nursery stock for planting is largely dependent upon: 1) Efficient administration and supervision. 2) Orderly and timely execution of nursery operations. 3) Selection of suitable site. 4) Economic and successful development of the site. 5) Utilization of best cultural methods. 6) Utilization of best lifting, storage and packing methods. 7) Elimination of losses in stock from preventable causes.

6. Nursery site and layout Every large nursery should be permanently divided by roads and crossroads into blocks or compartments, square or rectangular in shape. The number of roads should be kept to a minimum and in each case adapted to character of output and to methods of transportation and cultivation employed. Seed beds, when not bordering on roads, should be surrounded by temporary paths at least 2ft wide. Seeds beds are usually 3 to 4 feet wide and from 12 feet to entire length of the compartment long. Transplants are most commonly set in rows in large blocks divided by paths.

7. Contd … Long seeds and transplant beds are particularly desirable in nurseries in which implements are drawn by tractors in order to avoid necessity for too frequent turning. Seed beds should not, as a rule, be continued year after year in the same compartment. A rotation permits more economical methods of manuring and improving the soil by growing soiling crops.

8. Pre sowing techniques Some of the techniques for softening the seed coat so that it can easily beak its dormancy are: Hot water treatment. Cold water treatment. Scarification. Acid treatment. By passing seeds through Gastrointestinal tract of the animals.

9. Weeding (removing unplanted plants from the ground) Sources of supply of weed seed that is brought to the nursery by water, wind, in milch , manures should be reduced as much as possible. Seed beds should be kept free from weeds. This necessitates from 3 to 6 weeding or cultivation, the first season. Young plants may need weeding about once every 10 days. One of the largest expense in nurseries is the weeding, which is necessary several times a season.