An assessment on the performance of BRAC nursery seedlings with special emphasis on Amrapali

Abstract

The study examined the performance of the three kinds of seedlings of BRAC nurseries named Amrpali, lemon, and guava. Interview was taken from those buyers who bought those seedlings from BRAG. A total of 153 buyers among those 109 were of Amrpali and 22 lemon and 22 guava. Growers were selected from 29 BRAG area offices covering six divisions across the country. Since it is claimed that Amrapali gives better fruits if these seedlings are grown after two years of plantation of the seedlings. Therefore, seedlings grown in year 1999 were selected for the study conducted in February 2003. More than 90% of the seedling plantation is of homestead type. Out of 807 Amrapali seedlings grown by the buyers in 1999 around 69% were found to survive during the study. The average survival rate of the three varieties is 72.8%. The main reason for death of the seedlings grown was carelessness of the buyers. Some kinds of carelessness included growing of the seedlings under shade and breaking of stem by children or animals. Majority of the respondents mentioned that they faced pest -attack during cultivation of the plants. Majority of the growers were found to be hopeful with their seedlings grown. There is a serious lack of technical knowledge about cultivating the seedlings. Buyers claimed that technical support of BRAG staff is not sufficient. Therefore BRAG staff should help them giving more technical knowledge for cultivation of seedlings.