Establishment of forest nurseries by smallholders in the cold winter deserts of Uzbekistan

Abstract

Nursery is an area where plants are raised for eventual planting out. It consists of paths, nursery beds, irrigation channels etc. In nature, tree seeds falling in the ground germinate as seedling under existing soil and climatic conditions. Often the growing conditions are harsh in the cold winter deserts and soils are degraded. The growing seedlings commonly have to compete with other desert plant species. These adverse conditions result in poor survival of the seedlings and sparse tree population in the deserts. Hence, natural growth of seedlings through direct planting of seeding is difficult in the deserts. To address these issues for successful reforestation, forest nurseries are used to raise seedlings by providing optimum management conditions to raise vigorous seedlings during their critical early growth stage.