[Goanet-News] Miguel Braganza... on planting trees

[Goanet Reader]

GREEN THUMB: Planting Trees

By Miguel Braganza


The difference between planting seedlings of field crops like cereals,
oilseeds or pulses and planting seedlings or grafts of tree species is
simply this: trees are for keeps! An error in a field crop can be
rectified in the next season or next year. An erroneous planting of a
tree will be much more difficult to rectify in a lifetime. One has to
choose carefully. Above all, the temptation to be "penny wise and
pound foolish" has to be avoided like HIV-AIDS.

The first important step is to find a reliable plant nursery with
good, healthy planting material of the desired species and variety.
The credibility of the plant nursery is as important as the
reliability of the nursery school one would choose for one's child.
All plants may look the same to an untrained eye, as all people look
the same to a lay person, yet one of them may be a potential
terrorist. Some nurserymen dump unwanted varieties of plants the same
way poultry units off-load the male chicks after "sexing" at a broiler
farm. A person who has planted "male" papaya plants knows well that
every day is not Carnival! It is worse when one unwittingly plants
coconut seedlings that will never bear nuts or mango "grafts" that
will give one "sucking" mangoes that one can either pickle or suck.

Goa has plant nurseries registered under the "Goa Fruit and Flower
Plant Nurseries [Regulation] Act, 1995". This Act is based on a "Model
Nursery Act" circulated by the Union Ministry of Agriculture in the
early 1990s. Adv. Dayanand Narvekar, "Mummy" Victoria Fernandes,
Secretary of Agriculture Vivek Rae, then Deputy Director of
Agriculture, Mr. K.G. Sharma, Dr. Nandkumar Kamat, nurserymen Rodney
Almeida and R.U.P. Desai worked with me on the Bill that was sent to
the "House Select Committee" before it was passed with changes. It
received the Governor's assent by the time I went out of the
Government on "Foreign Service" basis to far away Valpoi. Rules were
framed there under and they are conspicuous by their breach rather
than by their enforcement. The ubiquitous unlicensed "push carts"
selling plants are proof there of. The pushcarts have greater
turnovers than some licensed nurseries in Goa.

One can buy ornamental plants from where ever one wants. Neither the
Goa Directorate of Agriculture (the designated enforcing authority and
my former "parent" department) nor I will bother about that. However,
one should choose fruit plants from reputed local nurseries, whether
registered or not. Vikas Nursery- Porvorim, Viraj Nursery-Colvale, Mr.
Farmer-Guirim, Goa Agro-Horti Centre [Kakoda Farms]-Margao, Parsemkar
Nursery-Pernem , Sagar Nursery-Nanoda, Jenney Nursery-Sangolda,
Paradkar Nursery-Valshi [the last two also sell plants at Mapusa's
Friday Market from the onset of rains] are quite reliable.

The Zonal Agriculture Offices of the Directorate of at Pernem, Valpoi,
Bicholim, Mapusa, Ela-Old Goa, Ponda, Margao, Sanguem, Quepem and
Chaudi-Canacona and the Farms at Codar-Ponda and Kalay-Sanguem are
sources of quality fruit plants. Agriculture Monday to Friday from 10
A.M. to 12 noon and 2 to 4 P.M. are the safest times to visit and buy.
The ICAR-Goa Complex at Ela, Old Goa, is also open for half day on
Saturdays except second Saturday of each month. May-end to June-end
are safe periods to buy at the Government farms and offices. Check out
the phone numbers in the "Blue pages" of the telephone directory.

Before planting a seedling or a graft, ensure that you have dug a pit
of appropriate size and removed all rocks, large stones and other
undesirable items like plastics, metal, cement waste etc. Excavation
of a 1.5 x1.5 x 1.0 metre pit is ideal to ensure proper root growth in
trees like mango or chickoo. A half metre deep pit is enough for
shallow rooted citrus plants like limes and lemons. If land is filled
with good mud for leveling of the plot, there is no need to even
bother to dig a pit. In rocky soil dig deep, because one cannot dig
under the roots later! The surface dimensions of the pit can be
increased later if cost of excavating in rock is a factor. Pay
attention to the depth of the pit and add common salt at the bottom to
soften rock over a period of time.

When planting a graft, ensure that the graft joint is above the
ground. This will prevent its rotting due to pathogenic fungus or
bacteria and also reduce chances of stem borer insect attack. (Even in
later years, do not heap soil or organic waste at the base of the
trunk.). burry a bamboo or some other stake near the graft and tie the
graft above the "graft joint" to the stake. Take care to tie a knot
tightly around the stake and then tie a loose loop around the plant.
The stake will normally not grow, the plant will. It is important to
provide space for it to grow.

Should you want more details, send a blank email to
bsg-goa-subscribe at yahoogroups.com and become a member of a d-list for
plant lovers. There are others on this list who are knowledgeable
about plants, so you may get quick advice. Your query may also get
answers that others could use this monsoon to enrich their lives with
plants. Together Everyone Achieves More. That is the T.E.A.M. spirit
of plant lovers. (ENDS)

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The above article appeared in the June 1, 2008 edition of the Herald, Goa

MIGUEL BRAGANZA is an agriculture officer, who took the unusual step
of quitting his government job and opting to be a horticulture
consultant. He is a plant lover and writes on issues that are close to
his heart, and otherwise contributes positively to society. He is also
current President of the Botanical Society of Goa and Editor of the
tabloid, North Goa Plus.

He is known to many who studied, like him, at Britto's and Xavier's in
Mapusa and was in the scouting movement in the 'seventies.

Miguel's weekly column, Green Thumb, in the Herald, Goa can be found
below. He writes another column called 'Konkan Curry' for the Gomantak
Times, Goa that be found here
http://www.goanet.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1053  Other
columns currently available are on mangoes and "there is no such thing
as the green thumb"