Growing only one or two crops seldom proves to be remunerative for farmers.
Along with the crops an additional activity needs to be taken up to increase income. For some it could be rearing animals; for others it could be maintaining a nursery for supplying ornamental plants and fruit seedlings.
In fact maintaining a nursery is one of the main requisites for agriculture because a good nursery is very essential for supplying the right type of seedlings to farmers who plant it on large areas.
Easy on maintanenceAnd another fact is that compared to animals or birds, nurseries are quite easy to maintain, don’t need extra hands or special care or huge investment, though in some cases some farmers invest in setting up a greenhouse.
Mr. S.Thinakarasamy from Kooliyankadu village of Pudukkottai district, owns three acres of wetland and three acres of dry land. With a strong desire for learning the latest techniques in nursery production, he attended several training programmes on propagation of ornamental plants, like grafting casuarinas, eucalyptus, grafting of jack and cashew and other fruit crops through the Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Vamban, Pudukottai and started a nursery on a small scale.
He was advised to construct a polyhouse in his farm and started propagation of ornamental plants like durantha, crotons, jasmine and medicinal plants like Coleus and supplied to Pudukottai town. Meanwhile, he was approached by farmers of nearby villages for fruit and forest plants.
“I learnt grafting and layering skills from KVK and started commercial propagation and sale of plants particularly chikoo, guava, cashew, jack, casuarina and eucalyptus.
“I also started producing and distributing the high yielding cashew varieties grafts (VRI 2 & 3) to farmers to fulfil the Government sponsored waste land development scheme at Pudukkottai district,” says Mr. Thinakarasamy.
PopularToday Mr. Thinakarasamy is one of the trusted and famous nursery men in Pudukkottai district for sourcing seedlings. He also carries out planting in the farmers field on contract basis.
“The socio-economic status of the farmer improved after he entered into the nursery venture. Since he started the nursery in 2007 he has sold more than ten lakh seedlings and earned a net profit of Rs. 7, 14,750 every year and bought a new two wheeler and subsequently a three-wheel vehicle for nursery and transporting seedlings. Currently, he is engaged in establishing a separate nursery for medicinal plants,” says Dr. V.Krishnamoorthy, Assistant Professor, Horticulture.
Inspiration for othersSeeing Mr. Thinakarasamy’s quantum leap from subsistence to well to-do farming, another farmer, Mr. B.Thamilsekaran also started a small nursery unit for propagation of Jack grafts. Now he is a famous nursery man in his village for supplying Jack grafts. His earning is around Rs. 500 per day.
The annual income is Rs. 3.51 lakhs which is 50 per cent more than his actual income from other sources.
The advantage of maintaining a nursery as business according to Dr. R.P. Gnanamalar, Programme Coordinator, is that it is remunerative and can be conducted in a small area even behind the farmer’s house with minimum investment, making it highly suitable for adoption by small/marginal farmers.
More than 250 seedlings in plastic bags can be accommodated in a sq. metre area. The initial investment for procuring the seedlings on wholesale might work out to Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 15, 000 for fruit and flower varieties from government authorized nurseries.
And farmers can sell it to individual persons for Rs. 10 more a seedling than the price of purchase.
Several nurseries can be set up in a village within a few kilometer radius supplying quality seedlings to other villages.
Effectively planWith availability of good quality planting material from local nurseries, farmers can effectively plan their planting requirement in advance or delay planting time without suffering any yield loss.
Farmers interested to start similar nursery can contact Dr.V. Krishnamoorthy, Assistant Professor (Horticulture), mobile: 9787356981 and Dr.R.P.Gnanamalar, 9789727822, Programme Coordinator, KVK, Vamban, Pudukkottai and Mr. Thinakarasamy, Koolayankadu, Alangudi, Pudukottai: 622303, mobile: 9443647109.
