Management Of Nurseries To Produce Quality Planting Stocks: A Case Study At Phultala Upazila Of Khulna District, Bangladesh

A study was carried out at Phultala Upazilla of Khulna District in order to recognize the basis of selection criteria of planting materials and management techniques to produce better quality planting stocks in nurseries due to the dominance of nurseries in this area. This study was conducted by a survey of 88 sample nurseries using the snowball sampling technique. The majority of nursery owners (51.13%) are middle-aged (31-50), and 37.5% have a primary education. The maximum nursery owners (48.86%) had no training and their nursery size was small to medium size (73.86%). Maximum nurseries are permanent on both own and lease land (43.18%). Normally, greater numbers of fruit tree species are produced than timber species because of the higher demand for fruit tree species. Nursery owners consider quantity rather than improving the quality of seedlings. They collect seeds from the nearby home gardens (Rank-1), individual trees (Rank-2), private plantations (Rank-3), roadside plantations (Rank-4) and purchase them from the local market (Rank-5). They have little knowledge about the quality of seeds as well as their sources. Most nursery owners consider only a few characters for mother tree selection. They do not apply pre-sowing treatment, culling, grading, and conditioning properly, but they use pesticides and fertilizers (usually inorganic) regularly (36.77%). On the basis of this study, it is suggested that the nursery owners should be facilitated with training and other logistical support to achieve adequate knowledge of nursery management and to produce quality planting stocks in the study area.