Scientists made 12 thousand varieties of 17 fruit trees in nursery, distributed one and a half lakh plants

A 15-acre barren plot of 5 acres nursery in Bhalesar of Mahasamund is such that farmers coming from other districts to learn

Krishi Vigyan Kendra has set up a 15-acre nursery with fruitful plants under MGNREGA in Bhalesar village of Mahasamund district, 58 km from the capital. In only two and a half years from this nursery, 17 varieties of fruit trees were developed here. More than 18 thousand farmers have been given more than one lakh 63 thousand fruitful plants in two and a half years. With this, about 400 families have also got more than 12 thousand days of employment. The laborers working under MNREGA in the nursery have been given wages of Rs 20 lakh. At the same time, according to nursery scientists, small-medium farmers are producing additional income resources from fruitful plants.

A fruit garden has also been prepared here. Scientists of Krishi Vigyan Kendra have prepared mother tree of 17 varieties of fruits. Plants prepared from these trees produce more fruits due to being genetically and physically pure and healthy. The nursery has been prepared through laborers’ labor for Rs 34 lakh. This 15-acre plan was barren until five years ago. After the work of making nursery under MNREGA started here, this entire area has now become greener due to the hard work of the laborers. After choosing the land here, in the initial phase, the work of cleaning the first unwarranted bushes, filling the pits and leveling was done.

A year later, in the second phase of the project, lay-out pits were dug for planting of horticultural plants. Adopting the scientific method, the pits were dug in such a way that the distance between the two plants as well as the distance between the two queues was five meters. All pits were excavated for planting with the criteria of one meter length, one meter width and one meter depth, so that even after growing the plants, their roots can get enough space to grow underground. After this, dung manure, soil, sand and other suitable fertilizers were mixed and filled, so that essential nutrients could be available to the plants.

Fruit varieties of these 17 varieties

The Krishi Vigyan Kendra divided the entire area into 15 parts to prepare an advanced nursery. Pomegranate, Guava, Lemon, Sitaphal, Ber, Munga, Fig, Chiku, Mango, Jamun, Jackfruit, Amla, Bell, Orange, Karaunda, Lassoda and Tamarind plants were planted. Among them, three varieties of guava are Allahabadabad Safeda, Lucknow-49 and Lalit, Saffron variety of pomegranate, Konkan Lemon variety of lemon, Konkan orange variety of orange, PKM-1 variety of Munga, Poona selection variety of fig, Karaunda The green-pink variety and mango Indira Nandiraj, Amrapali and Mallika varieties are included.

The nursery is now a model school of horticulture for farmers. Farmers from other districts are also learning here. Fruit trees are helpful in additional income of farmers.