Resource Book on Horticulture Nursery Management

Sr No Name of the Fruit Plant Type of Grafting
Minimum Age for Selling
the plants in the nursery
and
Grafting
Softwood
06 Mango Stone Grafting and
Wedge Grafting
1 year after grafting
07 Coconut Seedling raising 9 months after seed
germination
08 Black Pepper Cutting 120 days after cutting from
mother plant
09 Other Seed Propagated
Plants
Seedling raising 6 months after germination
All the plants that are ready for sale in the fruit nursery are required to be labeled to
demarcate the plants and their respective variety. The label should include the following
information:
� Name of the fruit plant
� Variety of the fruit plant
� License no. of the fruit nursery
� Name of the nursery
� Address of the fruit nursery
3. Requirement for Selection of Coconut Seed in Nursery
Coconut being a perennial crop, which has a lifespan of 80 to 100 year, equivalent to
the lifetime of a human being, selection of right planting material is of utmost importance
in coconut cultivation. Quality seednuts and seedlings are obtained through rigorous
selection at various stages.
Some important selection criteria are given below:
� The palm should be free from root wilt and other diseases.
� The palm should be regular bearers with an annual yield of more than 80 nuts per
year and minimum copra content of 150g per nut.
� Palm should have at least 30 fully opened leaves at the crown.
� Leaves should have short, strong petioles with wide leaf base firmly attached to
the stem. Their arrangement should provide support to the bunch.
� Each leaf axil should have one inflorescence with large number of spikes and one
or two female flowers per spike.
� Bunch stalk should be short, stout and strong.
� Palms which produce barren nuts or those shedding large number of nuts in the
immature stage should be discarded.
� Collect seednuts from February to May.
� Harvest only fully matured nuts which are at least 11 months old.
� Nuts should not be damaged while harvesting.
<strong>Resource</strong> <strong>Book</strong> on Horticulture Nursery Management : 241