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The total area of the
nursery is 1.8 ha. It is rectangular in shape.
Topography of the nursery site may be described as flat. The soil is
loamy sand. At the nursery site salty ground water is available at a
depth of about 40 meters. Topsoil depth is about 2 meters, below which
lies 'murrum'. Elevation of the nursery site is slightly lower than some
of the surrounding areas, |
| Seedlings Growing in Nursery |
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| because of that sometimes flooding of the nursery occur during the high rainfall days. Though at Jodhpur days with high rainfall are very-very limited and hence above-mentioned flooding during rainy season is not a very serious problem but an important lesson in site selection of the nursery has been learnt. |
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Seedlings Growing in Nursery |
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| Infrastructure
Facilities At AFRI Model Nursery
Following infrastructure
facilities are available at the AFRI Model Nursery: |
| Shade Houses:
Total eight number shade houses using agro net (70:30) on angle iron
structure have been constructed to moderate the effect of natural
influences like scorching sun light, strong wind, frost, torrential rain
etc. on the seedlings raised in the nursery. |
Poluhouse at AFRI Nursery |
| Overhead Sprinkler System: All the above-mentioned shade houses are equipped with overhead sprinkler system to facilitate proper and uniform irrigation of the seedlings. The overhead sprinkler system is flitted with a sand filter and wire mesh filter to ensure clogging free uninterrupted supply of the irrigation water. |
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Compost Unit: A compost unit consisting of manually
operated chaff cutter and a compost bin having dimension of 7m x 3m has
been constructed. It is being utilized to conduct various experiments
for standardization of the methods for production of compost from
locally available materials in the arid and semi arid region, including
byproducts and wastes from the agriculture sector. Compost Unit is based
on the aerobic methods of the compost production.Water
Storage Tank: Five number underground water storage tanks
having total storage capacity of 1.15 lakh liters have been constructed.
These tanks can provide a buffer stock for three days when nursery is
operating at its full capacity, to meet any exigency encountered during
any temporary disruption of the water supply to nursery. |
|
Water Pipeline: A 2" dia water pipeline along with necessary pump and
pump house for supply of water to the nursery from the AFRI main campus
has been provided. |
|
Potting Media Mixing Unit : A diesel engine operated
potting media mixing unit has been procured for proper mixing of the
different ingredients used for preparation of the nursery potting media
to ensure production of homogenous potting media. |
|
Root Trainers Blocks: Roots trainers blocks of three different
capacities viz. 150 cc, 250 cc and 300 cc along with their stands are
available at the AFRI Model Nursery. |
|
Raised Bed Structure: Four number raised bed structures of
the dimension 10 m x 1 m x 1.8 m are available in the AFRI Model
Nursery. These are brick structure with iron mesh top. These have been
constructed to provide a platform for keeping of polybag seedlings to
induce air pruning. |
|
Transportation Stand: In order to ensure easy transportation of
the root trainer raised seedlings from nursery to the plantation site,
with minimum damage to them AFRI Model nursery has been provided with
twelve number transportation stands. |
|
Working Shed: AFRI model nursery is provided with a working shed where
laborers engaged for non site-specific jobs can perform their duties. |
|
Transportation Trolleys: Presently, AFRI model nursery is
provided with two number transportation trolleys. These trolleys are
used to transport seedlings from shade houses to trucks for loading on
them and also for transportation of root trainers blocks, potting media
ingredients and other materials from one place to another place located
within the nursery. |
