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Introduction

• Beginning of a vegetable crop nursery requires large capital

investment. Expenses include equipment, buildings, cold storage,

supplies, plant material, drainage and installation of an irrigation

system. A greenhouse or overwintering structure is also needed.

• Additional costs include labor, utilities, insurance, licenses, and

inspections.

• Small Nursery holders produce nursery plants for sale in the local

markets while the larger nurserymen who can afford better

infrastructure are targeting large and distant markets.

Measures for Better Returns

1. Better quality nursery plants attracts better prices. Better quality

includes popular variety, good growth vigor and free from insect

or disease attack.

2. Studying the potential of target market, its demands and

seasons of marketing.

3. Nurserymen while working in groups can economically optimize

the use of resources, plan the crops to be produced and reach

markets which can fetch a better prices.

Production Cost

• Costs of nursery plant production include overhead cost, direct

cost and marketing costs.

• Overhead costs includes Taxes, depreciation, interest, rent,

utilities, insurance, maintenance and repair, new construction, new

equipment, supplies, salaries and wages.

• Direct costs includes purchasing seed, potting media, manures and

fertilizers, plant protection pesticides and their applications.

• Marketing costs involve the expenses incurred on advertising,

transport, marketing and actual sale of the plants.

Growing Plants in Smaller Containers

• Growing plants in smaller containers can reduce the

production costs. It also reduces time needed to produce the

plants.

• Selling plants at wholesale prices can also reduce the cost

on advertising, transport and marketing.

Infrastructural Cost:

• Infrastructural cost of the nursery includes the basic costs of

setting of nursery. Fencing, office & store. Infrastructural cost

varies in nurseries which use green houses, poly houses and

other structures for maintaining the microclimates conducive

for plant growth and germination.

• Infrastructural cost increases with increasing automation in

these structures but reduces the expenses incurred on

management of labour and wages.

Production Methods:

• Tomato seedlings can be produced by sowing in seed beds,

protrays or small containers.

• Planting in seed beds is most economical but the losses of

resources like water, fertilizers and pesticides are relatively more. It

also increases cost on labour for frequent weeding in nursery beds.

• The seedlings in nursery need to be uprooted carefully for sale

that can reduce the mortality of seedlings and the cost of

production.

Sowing of Seed beds:

• Tomato seeds can be sown in nursery beds or in seedling trays.

Both these methods have their advantages and disadvantages.

• Sowing seeds in seed beds is less expensive but uses more

resources like seeds, irrigation water, fertilizers compared to other

methods, which makes management of seed beds more expensive.

• In addition to this, there is higher mortality of seedlings in seed beds

at various growth stages from germination to uprooting.

• Seedlings in beds cannot be provided with equal quantities of

nutrition to all seedlings, which may lead to uneven and stunted

growth of seedlings on seed beds.

Sowing on Trays:

• Growing seedling in Trays is costlier. But it can optimize the use of

growth media, seedlings and irrigation water .

• Fertilizers and nutrients applied to seedlings can be directly

provided to individual seedlings, which results in to vigorous seedling

growth and uniform crop stand.

• Seedling mortality reduces due to even distribution of nutrients to all

seedlings. Uprooting of seedlings is not necessary in tray system,

which further reduces the seedling mortality.

• Seedlings are directly sold in the trays which also makes the

transportation easier and reduces seedling mortality in the process.

Irrigation Systems:

Overhead system and Drip system are widely used irrigation

systems:

• Overhead irrigation system is designed to cover a large area and

installation is less expensive. This method provides uneven water

distribution which can reduce seedling growth, encourage disease,

and contribute to runoff of excess irrigation water.

• Drip Irrigation system uses 60-70% less water than overhead

systems. It has higher installation cost but has superior application

efficiency and less affected by wind and crop canopy and produces

less runoff of irrigation water. Drip system of irrigation is preferred in

tomato nursery even though it is expensive in installation.

Comparative Study of irrigation systems:

Criteria Overhead Sprinklers Drip Irrigation

Installation cost/Acre Moderate Moderate to high

Maintenance cost Low High

Durability Excellent Low

Labor expenses Low Moderate-high

Water distribution Fair Fairly good

Water use efficiency Poor Good

Pump required High pressure Low pressure

Water volume required Large Small

Wind effect on distribution Serious effects No effects

Comparison of two irrigation systems in Tomato Nursery

Growing Media in Tomato Nursery:

• Media used in the nursery also affects the cost of production of

tomato nursery plants.

• Soil media and soil less media are two types of media used in the

nursery. Soil media is cheaper than soil less media and other

organic media. Use of soil as a media has inherent problems like

drainage, contamination, aeration, etc. While the properties of soil

less media like Ph and nutrient status need to be confirmed before

its use as growth media.

• Production of Compost or Farm Yard Manure at the nursery level

can reduce the cost on purchased media to some extent.