Fruit crops provide food, nutritional and economic
security, besides being a means for crop diversification. Low
hill-region of Himachal Pradesh is suitable for cultivation of
a number of fruit crops, but mango is leading in this zone.
Average productivity of this crop in the state is around 0.93t/
ha (Anonymous, 2009) which is far below the national
average. Among other factors, non-availability of sufficient
amount of planting material of optimal quality is one of the
major bottlenecks hampering productivity of mango in the
state. Healthy and uniform planting material of high quality
is a prerequisite for establishing a productive orchard.
Nursery rising, presently undertaken by various public and
private institutions, is being done on the basis of personal
experience of growers. No package of recommendations is
available for this commercial venture. Thus, for maximizing
output of quality nursery, it is of utmost importance to
standardize nursery techniques to suit local growing-
conditions. The present studies were designed for
standardization of nursery techniques for output maximization
under low-hill conditions of Himachal Pradesh.

Studies were conducted at the experimental farm
Neri of Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and
Forestry, Regional Horticultural and Forestry Research
Station, Bhota, Hamirpur during the years 2004-2009. The
farm is located at an altitude of 620m amsl experiencing
average mean maximum and minimum temperatures of
31.30C and 12.40C, respectively, and is representative of

Nursery output maximization in mango under low-hill conditions of Himachal Pradesh

Shashi Kumar Sharma and  Sanjeev Kumar Banyal
Regional Horticultural and Forestry Research Station, Bhota – 177001, India

Email: skbanyal@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

Studies to standardize nursery production techniques in mango for output maximization were conducted during
2004-2009. Three separate experiments were laid out to work out optimum spacing, fertilizer level and time of
transplant of mango seedlings. Best result in terms of nursery output per unit area was observed in seedlings
transplanted at a spacing of 30cm x 20cm during mid-August to mid-September. It was also observed that a higher
proportion of early-transplanted seedlings became graftable by March. Thus there exists a wide scope for raising
greater number of mango grafts in a year, as, these grafts attain saleable size by July-August, if suitable irrigation
and nutrition is provided. Seedling survival improved with different levels of manure and fertilizer application. Overall
saleable plant material generated was highest with application of 10kg FYM + 25g N + 16g P

2
O

5
 + 60g K

2
O per m2  bed-

area.

Key words: Mango, nursery, spacing, fertilizer, transplanting

the low-hill region of Himachal Pradesh. Relative humidity
here is around 60.9 %.  Soil texture of the nursery was
clay-loam with pH value of 6.6. Organic matter content of
the nursery soil was 0.38% at onset of the experiment.
Available N and P were low, and K content was medium.
Initially, the study purported to standardize spacing for
maximization of nursery output. Three spacings, viz., S

1 
-

30cm x 10cm, S
2 
-30cm x 20 cm and S 

3
-30cm x 30cm with

five replicates, were tried in completely randomized design
(CRD). Five beds of 2m x 1m comprised the replication
and each bed was treated as a unit for observation.
Observations were recorded on seedling survival and on
proportion of graftable seedlings by March and July each
year. Data on graft-success was also recorded for different
treatments. Output maximization of the nursery was judged
by number of saleable grafts produced per unit area.
Seedlings were collected from the ground underneath locally
grown mango trees, at the green leaf stage. During the period
study (2004-06), transplantation was carried out from July
to September each year.

Considerable amount of variation was observed in
growth and development of transplanted seedlings with
respect to time of transplant. Therefore, the second
experiment was planned for standardizing transplanting time
for mango seedlings, with the following treatments:

T
1

: Seedlings transplanted during 1st fortnight of July

Short communication

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Vol. 6(1):56-58, 2011



57

T
2

: Seedlings transplanted during 2nd  fortnight of July

T
3

: Seedlings transplanted during 1st fortnight of August

T
4

: Seedlings transplanted during 2nd  fortnight of August

T
5

: Seedlings transplanted during 1st fortnight of
September

T
6

: Seedlings transplanted during 2nd fortnight of
September

Each treatment was replicated thrice with five plots
(2m x 1m) for each replicate. The stones of local mango
varieties were collected and were allowed to germinate in
nursery beds in 3-4 inch thick layer of FYM. Copper colored
seedlings on turning green were transplanted into nursery
beds at a spacing (which was found to be the best in first
experiment) 30cm x 20cm. The seedlings were then allowed
to grow and were veneer grafted in March and July.
Observations recorded were similar to that in the first
experiment. In both the experiments described above,
seedlings were manured @10kg FYM at the time of
transplantation.

The third experiment was laid out to standardize
manure and fertilizer dose to raise a healthy mango nursery.
The following treatments were applied:

F
1

: 10kg FYM + 25g N + 16g P
2
O

5
 + 60g  K

2
O per m2

bed-area

F
2

: ½ F
1

F
3

: 2F
1

FYM, P and K were applied at the time of  bed-
preparation and N was applied in two split doses (one month
after transplanting and the other in February end). Each
treatment was replicated thrice, with five plots (2mx1m)
for each replicate. Observations recorded were similar to
those in experiments 1 and 2. Data for all three experiments
was pooled and analyzed as per standard procedures of
Gomez and Gomez (1984).

Data pertaining to seedling-spacing is presented in
Table 1. It is evident that survival of transplanted seedlings
was not influenced significantly by different spacing
treatments. In all, 72 to 74% survival of seedlings was

observed under various treatments. This reflects that as far
as survival of transplanted seedlings was concerned, even
a spacing of 30cm x10cm is sufficient. Under wider spacing,
it was observed that higher proportion of seedlings attained
graftable size by March. Highest number of graftable
seedlings was achieved in 30cm x 30cm spacing (though, it
was statistically at par with 30cm x 20cm spacing). Grafting
success % was also higher in this treatment.   Proportion of
seedlings that attained graftable size by July was also higher
under 30cm x 30cm spacing, but was statistically at par
with 30cm x 20cm. Grafting success in July grafted
seedlings was also higher under the treatment 30cm x 20cm.
GTZ-ITFSP (2010) reported that the best spacing for
transplanting mango seedlings was 30cm x 30cm. Mukherjee
and Majumdar (1964) too reported that spacing affected
success in veneer grafting in mango. Overall nursery-output,
i.e., saleable grafts generated per m2 area, was also highest
under the treatment 30cm x 20cm. Higher proportion of
saleable grafts under this treatment may be attributed to
higher plant-density here in comparison to 30cm x 30cm
spacing and higher proportion of graftable seedlings grafting
success in comparison to 30cm x 10cm spacing.  Hence,
30cm x 20cm may be designated as optimum spacing for
raising mango grafts.

As for the time of seedling transplantation (Table 2),
survival of transplanted seedlings was highest when these
were transplanted during the second fortnight of August and
was statistically at par with those first in the transplanted
fortnights of August and September. Faruque and Fakir
(1973) reported that time of seedling transplanting had a
significant effect on growth and performance in a mango
nursery. These studies further revealed that mid–June
transplanted seedlings had the lowest mortality, under
Bangladesh conditions.  In our studies, it was observed that
early transplantation resulted in a higher proportion of
graftable seedlings by March. Grafting success in March
and July was not influenced by any of the treatments. It
can be inferred from these findings that a larger proportion
of early-transplanted seedlings became graftable by March.
Hence, there exists a wide scope for raising greater number

Table 1. Effect of spacing on performance of mango nursery

Treatment Seedling Seedlings grafted  in March Seedlings grafted  in July Saleable grafts
(spacing in cm) survival  (%) per m2

Graftable Graft Graftable Graft
seedlings (%) success (%) seedlings (%) success (%)

S
1
30x10 72 42 68 62 68 8.0

S
2
30x20 74 54 76 72 76 11.64

S
3
30x30 73 60 71 78 74 6.24

CD
0.05

NS 6.4 7.2 6.2 4.8 2.33

Nursery output maximization in mango

J. Hortl. Sci.
Vol. 6(1):56-58, 2011



58

of mango grafts in a single year, as, these grafts can attain
saleable size by July-August if suitable irrigation and nutrition
is provided. GTZ-ITFSP (2010) has recommended that the
best transplanting-time is at the 5-leaf stage or about 5cm
seedling-height. Our study shows that the highest proportion
of saleable seedlings can be obtained in seedlings
transplanted during the 2nd fortnight of August; But,
statistically, this was not found to be superior to early-August
and early-September transplanting.

Nutrition is one of the major aspects of nursery-
raising and results pertaining to this are presented in Table
3. It is observed from the data that seedling-survival
improved with manure and fertilizer application. Survival
was maximum with the full dose of fertilizers (F

1
) and was

statistically at par with that in double the dose (F
3
). Graftable

proportion of seedlings by March significantly improved
by application of double dose (F

3
)

 
but was statistically at

par with F
1
. Graft success was highest in March in

treatment F
1
. The proportion of plant in the nursery that

attained graftable size by July was also highest in F
2,
 although

statistically at par with F
1
. Overall saleable plant-material

was highest with application of 10kg FYM + 25g N + 16g
P

2
O

5
 + 60g K

2
O per m2  bed-area, i.e., treatment F

1.  
No

systematic studies are available on manure and fertilizer
application in mango nursery under different locations. More
number of location-and site specific studies on this aspect

could further add to the existing scant information on nursery-
raising.

It can be concluded from results discussed above that,
for maximization of mango nursery output, the seedlings
raised should be transplanted by end of August to mid-
September at a spacing of 30cm x 20cm in nursery beds
manured @ 10kg FYM + 25g N + 16g P

2
O

5
 + 60g K

2
O per

m2  bed-area.

REFERENCES

Anonymous, 2009. District-wise area and production of fruits
in Directorate of Horticulture, Himachal Pradesh,

Faruque, A.H.M. and Fakir, M.M.A.S.1973. Propagation of
mango by different methods of grafting. Bangladesh
Hort., 1:25-28

Gomez, K.A. and Gomez, A.A, 1984. Statistical procedures
for agricultural research. 2nd Edition, John Wiley and
Sons, New York

GTZ-ITFSP. 2010. Tree crop propagation and management
– a farmer training trainer manual. www.gtz-
treecrops.org

Khushk, A.M. and Menon, K. 2003. Economy of mango
nurseries. Dawn - the internet edition. http//
www.DAWN.com

Singh, M.P. and Gill, S.S. 1989. Standardization of propagation
techniques in mango. Acta Hortic., 231: 179-181

Table 3. Effect of fertilizers on performance of mango nursery

Treatment Seedling Seedlings grafted in March Seedlings grafted  in July Saleable grafts
(fertilizers dose) survival  (%) per m2

Graftable Grafting Graftable Grafting
 seedlings (%) success (%) seedlings  (%) success  (%)

F
1

73 72 72 83 79 12.7
10kg FYM,  25g N,
16g P

2
O

5,  
60g

 
K

2
O  per m2.

F
2
   Half the dose of F

1
54 58 59 65 64 8.2

F
3 
Double the dose of F

1
70 74 71 85 70 10

CD
0.05

8.4 6.9 7.9 9.2 7.9 2.3

Table 2.  Effect of time of transplant on performance of mango nursery

Treatment Seedling Seedlings grafted in March Seedlings grafted in July Saleable grafts
(time of transplant) survival   (%) per m2

Graftable Grafting Graftable Grafting
seedlings   (%) success (%) seedlings  (%) success (%)

T
1
1st fortnight of July 62 48 64 82 74 10

T
2
2nd fortnight of July 69 42 65 84 75 11

T
3
1st fortnight of August 70 43 61 80 74 13

T
4
2nd fortnight of August 75 40 62 81 76 15

T
5
1st fortnight of September 72 32 64 82 72 13

T
6
2nd fortnight of September 56 15 66 80 70 7

CD
0.05

5.6 8.7 NS NS NS 2.3

(MS Received 30 September 2010, Revised 15 March 2011)

Sharma and Banyal

J. Hortl. Sci.
Vol. 6(1):56-58, 2011