Introduction:

1. Introduction: Tomato is an important commercial vegetable crop grown on large scale in India. It gives good profit to the farmer. The tomato seeds are costly and small, hence require nursery for due care in production of seedlings. Raising the nursery of tomato is a highly skilled job. The seedlings are ideally grown on two types of beds.

2. Flat Bed: • Traditionally used method of raising seedlings. • Width of the bed is adjusted so as to approach the centre of the bed conveniently. • This type of bed is prone to water logging and thus seedling decay. • It is not recommended specially during rainy season. Nursery on flat beds

3. Raised Beds: • Common type of bed adopted by professional vegetable growers. • The soil remains loose, water logging can be avoided and root growth can be intensified. • It also facilitates the air and light penetration, intercultural operations, pests and diseases managements.

4. Soil Preparation for Raised Beds: • Deep ploughing and harrowing (30 cm deep) for fine tilth. • 10kg FYM, SSP 100g/m2 and Thimate 25g/bed applied before sowing. • The proportion of Soil and FYM is 3:1. • avoids water logging and maintains aeration. • The dimensions: Width: 1m, Height: 0.30m, Length: May vary as per the requirement and convenience.

5. Nursery on Raised Beds

6. Raising Seedling by Raised Bed Method: Bed Preparation: • Prepare beds 9m long 1m wide and 15-20 cm high. • Tomato on 1ha area require seedbeds of 10x15m2 size. • Break the clods and bring the bed to a fine tilth. • Apply 15 kg well decomposed FYM to each of this bed. • Mix 3g Trichoderma culture in 100g neemcake/m2 to soil. • Add 100g/bed of nitrogen, phosphorus and potash. Sowing: • F1 hybrids or improved varieties of tomato are preferred. • Seeds are sown in line at spacing of 7 cm and depth 1 cm. • Seed treatment of Thiram or recommended fungicide. • Fine sand is added in seed to enable proper spacing. • Seeds be covered with sieved soil and FYM layer. • Cover the bed with dry grass or straw until germination.

7. Care of Seedlings: • Sprinkle 50-100g of insecticide dust formulations around nursery beds to prevent ants from eating seeds. • Drench with copper oxy chloride (3g/liter) after germination. • Cover beds with 40-50 mesh nylon net to protect from whiteflies, thrips and aphids. • Insect vectors are managed by spraying Imidacloprid @0.2ml/liter 7-10 days after germination and before transplanting. • The seedlings will be ready for transplanting in 25-42 days. • Seedlings are hardened by holding irrigation and removing the nylon net before transplanting.

8. Use of Nylon Nets Insect attack on plants in early stages can affect growth and yield of the crop. Hence vegetable seedling are grown under cover using insect proof nylon net (40-50 mesh). The nets are supported by Casuarinas or bamboo poles or GI pipes. 150 square meter area is sufficient to grow seedlings for 1 ha. This would incur an one time expenditure of Rs. 5000. Irrigation: Germination requires warmth and humidity. Irrigation is applied frequently but precisely with micro sprinklers to avoid displacement of seeds. The first watering should be done in the form of drenching with Bavistin 0.01%.

9. Aftercare: • Weeding: Removal of weeds as required. • Pests: Aphids, leaf miner, whitefly affect seedlings. They are controlled by spraying Malathion 0.02% (20mL/10L water) + Neem seed kernel extract 4%. • Damping Off: It is a fungal disease caused by thick and compact sowing and poor drainage. Damping off causes mortality of seedlings. This can be prevented by seed treatment, drenching and spraying Bavistin 0.01%(10g/10L water) at sowing and after germination.

10. Advantages of Raising Seedlings in Nursery: • Healthy seedlings • Precision in seed use • Uniform growth of seedlings • Congenial conditions for growth • Proper management due to small area. • Timely availability of the seedlings