USING quality seedlings should always be considered to attain proper growth and optimum performance of different varieties of vegetables.
Quality seedlings produced in a well-managed nursery will result in better crop yield and could provide a better profit.
Considering these factors, the practice of seedling production has started to become a business activity for enterprising farmers.
It can be noted that innovative farmers and agriculture entrepreneurs are now shifting to the production of quality seedlings.
Seeing these potentials, several farmers are now involved in the production of quality seedlings as a commercial venture.
But the success of producing quality seedlings depends mainly on the kind of seeds that the stakeholders will be sowing and the farm inputs they will be using.
Farmers can establish their own vegetable nurseries in their backyard for producing seedlings until the young plants become ready for planting.
Several farmers have already developed their own planting medium, and have started to use an organic foliar fertilizer which can provide a better germination rate during the process of seedling production.
It was learned that some farmers who started their own seedling nurseries have been using Amino Plus Foliar Fertilizer (APFF) for cultivating different varieties of vegetable seedlings like, pepper, tomato, eggplant, and papaya in their backyards.
According to Ricky Sun of Global Green Organic Fertilizer, Inc., the use of APFF has resulted in the production of quality seedlings.
Global Green Organic Fertilizer, Inc. is the producer of Amino Plus Foliar Fertilizer.
It was learned that damage to agricultural crops could be prevented or minimized with the proper application of the organic farm input.
The seedlings that were sprayed with Amino Plus can become more resistant to diseases and stresses.
When sprayed, it effectively adheres to the plant’s surface and provides quick supplementation.
After all, the production of quality seedlings requires proper know-how, time, and tender loving care.
The use of quality seedlings has a number of advantages compared to direct seeding.
These include shorter growing season and more efficient use of land, improved crop uniformity, more accurate prediction of harvest time, and a better use of hybrid seeds.
By using quality seedlings, farmers may be able to produce healthier, more uniform and vigorous crops.
Aside from these, seedlings produced from cell trays can be used in manual or automatic transplanters, which will allow field planting without disturbing the root system.
Some farmers have already devised their method to protect the seedlings during the rainy season by improvising a simple greenhouse.
Because of the improvised greenhouses, it increased the capacities of their nurseries, allowing them to produce thousands of quality seedlings at any given time – depending on the number of seedlings ordered by their clientele.
Healthy seedlings which are produced in a well-managed nursery could therefore result in a better yield and expected to give a more realistic profit.
Considering the advantages of quality-produced seedlings, this could provide an opportunity for the small farmers to augment their income, as well as helping boost agricultural productivity in the countryside. (jaypeeyap@ymail.com/PN)
