Plant Propagation and Nursery Management of Fruit and Plantation Crops
Course Overview
Official detailed syllabus from the ICAR Sixth Deans’ Committee curriculum.
Course Objectives
i. To know different methods of propagation techniques ii. Horticultural significance of specialized vegetative structures iii. To study the different types of plant propagation methods and structures
Theory Syllabus
Status and importance of plant propagation and nursery production in fruits and plantation crops. Sexual and asexual methods of propagation, their advantages and disadvantages. Apomixes, seed dormancy, types of dormancy and methods to overcome seed dormancy. Use of vegetative propagation methods viz. division, cutting, layering, budding and grafting. Propagation structures in nursery production: Mist chamber, humidifiers, greenhouses, glasshouses, cold frames, hot beds and poly-houses. Use of growth regulators in nursery production. Components of a nursery, maintenance of mother trees and seed gardens, collection of scion-wood, and bud wood certification. Growing medium and containers used for nursery production. Role of tissue culture techniques viz. micropropagation, micrografting and meristem culture. Nursery registration act. Management of insect-pests and diseases in nursery. Cost of establishment of a modern nursery.
Practical Syllabus
Selection of site, soil sterilization and preparation of beds for nursery raising. Preparation of growing media and use of different nursery containers for containerized nursery production in fruits and plantation crops. Seed treatments for breaking dormancy and prevention of nursery diseases. Sowing of seed, raising and maintenance of rootstock/ seedlings. Practicing different vegetative propagation methods, viz. cutting, layering, grafting and budding. Preparation of plant growth regulators for seed germination and vegetative propagation. Digging, labelling and packing of field grown nursery plants. Familiarisation with propagation structures mist chamber, greenhouse, glasshouse, polyhouse and net house; and their maintenance. Micropropagation and hardening of plants. Tissue culture media preparation, explant preparation, in vitro culturing and shoot tip culture, primary and secondary hardening of tissue culture plants. Maintenance of nursery records. Identification and management of insect-pests and diseases in nursery. Project formulation for small and high-tech nurseries. Nursery Accreditation.
Suggested Readings
1. Davies F T, Geneve R L and Wilson S B 2018. Hartmann and Kester’s Plant Propagation Principles and Practices. (9th Edn.). Pearson. USA.
2. ICAR 2019. Handbook of Horticulture. (2nd Edn.). ICAR Vol I, II. New Delhi.
3. Peter K V. 2002. Plantation crops. National Book Trust India, New Delhi.
4. Sharma R R and Krishna Hare. 2017. Textbook of Plant Propagation and Nursery Management. C B S Publishers. New Delhi.
5. Sharma R R and Srivastava Manish. 2004. Plant Propagation and Nursery Management. IBDC Publishers. New Delhi