Experiment: 6

Preparation of nursery and seed beds

To study about the procedure for preparation of nursery and seed beds

Nursery is a place where planting material, such as seedlings, saplings, cuttings, etc., are
raised, propagated and multiplied under favourable conditions for transplanting in prepared
beds. In a nursery, plants are nurtured by providing them with optimum growing conditions
to ensure germination. Nursery saves considerable time for the raising of the next crop.

Importance of nursery
• It is possible to grow and maintain a large number of plants per unit area.
• Small and expensive hybrid seeds can be raised more effectively due to better care and
management.
• When seeds are sown in seedbeds, their germination percentage increases and the vigor of
the seedlings also improves.
• The management of seedlings can be done in a better way with minimum care, cost and
maintenance as the nursery area is small.
• Manipulation of growing conditions for plants becomes easy.

Selection of the nursery site

Location
A nursery must be located in a pollution-free environment — away from brick kilns, smoke-
emitting industries.
Topography of land
The topography of land at the nursery site must be even
Soil
The soil must preferably be loam or sandy loam with large quantity of organic matter
Water
The quality of water used in a nursery is important for the growth of plants. Saline and
polluted water must not be used.
Drainage
The nursery site must have adequate drainage facility and be free from water logging.
Labour
As nursery work is labour-intensive, the nursery site must have enough number of labourers.

Types of nursery
Nurseries are classified on the basis of duration, plants produced and structures used.

On the basis of duration

Temporary nursery: This type of nursery is developed only to fulfill seasonal requirements
or a targeted project.
Permanent nursery: In this type of a nursery, the plants are nourished and kept for a longer
period of time till they are sold out or planted permanently in a field.
On the basis of plants produced.

Ornamental nursery
Seedlings, rootstock and scion material of ornamental plants
Vegetable nursery
Planting material like seedlings of vegetables, rooted cuttings (asparagus and sweet potato),
rhizomes (ginger), tubers (potato) and bulbs (onion and garlic) are raised and conserved in
such a nursery.
Fruit plant nursery In this nursery, seedlings and cuttings of rootstocks, budded plants, grafts,
layers and cuttings of fruit trees, such as mango, lychee.

On the basis of structure used

Open field nursery
Hi-tech nursery

Preparation of the nursery bed

Nursery beds can be prepared in three different ways.
 Sunken bed
 A sunken bed
 Level bed
 Raised bed
 EXPERIMENT: 7

Identification of different types of Insecticides, Fungicides and Herbicides

1. List of Pesticides or Insecticides

 Captan
 Azadirachtin
 Carbaryl (Sevin)
 Chlorothalonil (Bravo)
 Copper Compounds - Bordeaux
 Esfenvalerate
 Ferbam (Carbamate)
 Garlic (Guardian)

 2. List of Herbicides

 2,4-D amine 4
 Alachlor,
 Atrazine,
 Bensulide,
 Bentazon,
 Benefiin,
 Bicyclopyrone,
 Bicyclopyrone + mesotrione + s-metolachlor
 Capric acid and caprylic acid

3. List of Fungicides

 Lustre
 Godiwa
 Super
 Conika
 Cursor
 Kasu
 Sixer
 Fujita
 Spectrum
Experiment: 8

To find out 100-grain weight of crop seeds

Test weight is an important predictor for milling of yield; test weights are measured
on grain loads by weighing a known volume of grain, which is used to compare grain
densities. . The 1000 grain weight is a very important measure of seed quality, which
is effective on sprouting, seed potential, seedling growth, and plant performance. Test
weight is simply a measure of grain bulk density. An official test weight measurement
uses standardized equipment to determine the mass (weight) of a sample quart of
grain, and then converts this to a g/mg. terms of weight is an important parameter as it
gives an indication of seed chemical composition, seed dampness, insects infestation
and seed maturation etc.

Procedure

To study the evaluation of test weight on different categories of field crop seeds like,
cereals, millets, small millets, pulses, oilseeds, fiber, fodder and green manure crops
should be counted and computed. The number of seeds should be taken in to by hand
count on 100 and 1000 seed weight and should be measured in g/mg to estimate the
seed rate based on fixed number of seeds and test weight. About five different
samples can be collected in each and every crop seeds and average values are
computed.

Some examples of crops and their test weights

Maize- 29.82
Barley- 3.24
Black gram- 6.62
Green gram- 7.38
Cowpea- 20.31
 Experiment: 9

Determination of moisture content of crop seeds

The moisture content is the amount of water in the seed and is usually expressed as a
percentage. It can he expressed on either a wet weight basis (where it is expressed as a
percentage of the fresh weight of the seed) or on a dry weight basis (where it is
expressed as a percentage of the dry weight of the seed). For gene bank work it is
usually expressed on a wet weight basis and all determinations and calculations
should follow this rule.

The seed moisture content can either be accurately determined experimentally by

scientific techniques, or it can be predicted approximately from the information
available. The determination is destructive to the seeds used and since in many cases a
prediction is sufficient, determination should only be carried out where essential.

Determination of moisture content

Q. The fresh weight of maize crop is 25 g and the dry seed weight of maize crop is
11 g. calculate the moisture content in the seed.

Solution:

% moisture content = (25 – 11) / 25 x 100 = solve it

Conclusion: The moisture content analysis of seeds was studied in this

experiment.
 Experiment 10

Use of sprayers and dusters in agriculture for nutrient spray and pest
control
Spraying and dusting, in agriculture, the standard methods of applying pest-control
chemicals and other compounds. In spraying, the chemicals to be applied are
dissolved or suspended in water or, less commonly, in an oil-based carrier. The
mixture is then applied as a fine mist to plants, animals, soils, or products to be
treated. In dusting, as an alternative method, dry, finely powdered chemicals may be
mixed with an inert carrier and applied with some type of blower. Dry granular
materials also have been used instead of dusts or sprays where adequate coverage can
be obtained. Duster is a kind of sprayer machine that is used for spraying chemicals at
larger areas of farmland

Agriculture sprayers are often used for applying water and water/chemical solutions
containing acids or caustic materials for crop-performance or pest-control; i.e.
fertilizers and pesticides.

Advantages

 Sprays and dusts are used to control insects, mites, and fungous and bacterial
diseases of plants; insects, such as lice and flies, on animals; and weeds, by
means of chemical weed killers or herbicides.
 Sprays and dusts may also be used for such special purposes as applying
mineral fertilizers, increasing or decreasing fruit set, delaying the dropping of
nearly mature fruits, and defoliating and vine killing to facilitate the harvest of
such plants as cotton or potatoes.

Types of sprayers

Depending on the source of power it can be classified as manually operated and

power operated dusters. The manually operated dusters are (i) package duster (ii)
plunger duster (iii) bellow duster and (iv) rotary duster.

Types of dusters:

Knapsack Type Duster

Power Operated Duster
Rotary Dusters
Plunger Type Duster
Crop Duster or Ariel Duster
Conclusion
In this experiment we studied about different types of dusters and sprayers used and
their advantages in agriculture.