Temprate Fruits (1+1)

EXERCISE 1

EXERCISE 1: Preparation of seed and nursery beds

Materials : Spade, khurpa, measuring tap, rope, sand, farm yard manure

(i) Seed bed preparation

• The soil of the nursery should be friable, well drained and fertile to produce vigorous seedlings.
• Soil is well pulverized before the seed beds are prepared. Each seed bed should be raised 15-20 cm above the general level of the plot to facilitate drainage.

Procedure:

• Select a sunny side for preparing seed or nursery beds.
• Mark out the area required for nursery. Dig the soil about 25 to 30 cm deep with the help of a spade.
• Remove weeds and stones and level the land with the help of a rake.
• Spread dry leaves in a thin layer and burn it. This helps in destroying diseases and pests.
• If the soil is heavy clay or silt then mix coarse sand @ 3 to 4 kg per square meter.
• After this, spread well decomposed farm yard manure @ 5-6 kg per square meter and 120 kg of N, 50 to 60 kg of P and 80- 90 kg of K per hectare nursery area. Mix all these well and leave the land for few days.

• Prepare beds of 120 cm wide and 2 meter in length. In between two beds leave space of 25– 30 cm. The beds should be kept 5-10 cm high from the soil surface.
• In the prepared beds the seeds be sown about 2 to 4 cm deep and 8 to 10 cm apart. The depth of the furrow will depend upon the size of seeds. Bolder the seeds deeper the furrow.
• After sowing the seed in the furrow, the seeds be covered with a mixture of farm yard manure and coarse sand in the ratio of 3:1 and beds are covered with grass mulch.
• Sprinkle water as and when necessary. Over watering should be avoided as excessive moisture encourages foot-rot diseases.
• The young seedlings cannot tolerate strong sun or rain. Therefore, it is essential to protect the young seedlings against sun and rain by a thatch or with polythene films.

ii) Preparation of nursery beds

• The seedlings at 3 to 4 leaf stage are transplanted from seed beds to nursery stage at proper spacing. Before transplanting, the soil is thoroughly ploughed and then nursery beds are prepared.

Procedure :

• Nursery beds should be bigger than seed beds. It should be located in open space and nearer to water source.
• The soil is made friable by 3-4 ploughing and 60-80 tones well rotten FYM, 120 kg of N, 50 to 60 kg of P and 80- 90 kg of K per hectare nursery area is mixed in the soil.
• In the prepared bed, lines (30 x 30 cm apart) should be marked for planting the seedlings. After four rows, 45-60 cm space is left to facilitate the movement for operations like hoeing, weeding, propagation and lifting of plants.