Clonal care
A nursery with all the necessary infratructure embedded with latest and modern equipments along with well trained, experienced and dedicated manpower is a must for producing high yielding successful clonals. A modern clonal nursery with an annual production capacity of 60 lakhs eucalyptus clones was established with indigenous technology.
The clones are mass multiplied using the standardized Vegetative propagation protocols, which increases the survival rate and improves the production ability of the planting stock thus resulting in the high productivity of the farms.
The infrastructure for clonal propagation consists of 30 mist chambers (about 1 million samplings) covering an area of 60,000 Sq Feet, green house of 15,000 Sq Feet, 1.25 acres of water pond and 5 acres of open nursery.
The following steps are followed in developing the High quality clones ……
Stem Selection - Identifying the importance of the RIGHT CLONE / SEED to achieve better yields, we use only the first cuttings of a genetically superior tree which meets the standard parameters required to develop a successful clone. Such as consistently high yielding, disease resistant, suitable to different climates and regions. They are trimmed to the necessary height & girth and made ready for planting.
Use of Vermiculite – We use Vermiculite in the seedling trays as a growing media. This promotes faster root growth and gives quick anchorage to young roots by retaining air, plant food and moisture, releasing them as and when the plant requires them.
Mist Chambers – The plant filled trays are shifted to Polyhouses / Mist chambers fitted with foggers for a period of 40 days. Temperatures are maintained at 42 Degrees and intensive care is taken as this is the crucial period for a plant and its future performance depends on it.
Green House – Then the clones are shifted to the Green Houses, where they are kept for 15 days. This stage acts as a bridge for the plant to get ready to survive the open house conditions after passing through the Mist chambers period.
Open Nursery – This is the final stage which lasts for 30 days. The clones are left in the Open House nursery to make them get accustomed to the exterior climatic conditions.
Grading – Finally, after successful completion of the above processes, the clones are graded. Clones which meet the required quality parameters (Height & Girth of the Stem) only are selected and used for supplying to the farmers for planting.
Regular monitoring is carried out by the experienced farm supervisors at all the stages above and utmost care is taken to see to it that a High Quality Clone is developed by the time the cutting passes the above mentioned stages. Good quality fungicides and herbicides are used to deter the growth of the fungus.
In addition to the above, we have our own Water Pond constructed in an area of 1.25 acres, which is used to store the water drawn from the adjoining Krishna River. Sand filters are fitted to this to eliminate the impurities and enhance the quality of the water. This enables us to look to it the Clones are regularly supplied with quality water without any hindrance. We consider it as an essential requirement because the Clones are treated with this water in the first 3 months, which is a very crucial period and determines their future performance according to the care we take.