Spreading Bare Root Nursery Techniques Among Farmers

Since 2007, Trees for the Future (Trees Cameroon) has been working with the rural poor to improve on their

wellbeing through agroforestry practices.

We have touched over 200 communities in the Northwest, Southwest and the West Regions of Cameroon; impacting on the lives of community members by organizing trainings.

One of the major trainings has been on bare root nursery establishment. We have trained different farming groups on the steps of establishing a bare root nursery. This is always done through on-farm demonstration so as to make farmers understand the techniques better.

Together with farmers’ groups, we create raised beds of not more than 1.5 metre-width, where the seeds will be nursed. The raised bed is later flattened to allow easy creation of trenches. The seeds, after being treated with either cold or warm water, are spread out through the trenches.

The position of a nursery is very important to farmers since it requires constant follow-up.

Jean Baptiste is a farmer and ERuDeF’s field technician of Haut-Nkam Division in the West Region.

He has been working with Trees for the Future since 2007 and has raised thousands of seedlings which have been transplanted into his farms.

“The easiest way to manage a nursery is when it is located near a water source and next to where you can visit all the time,” says Jean Baptiste. This is because a nursery is like a baby and need lots of care and attention.

“It is for this reason that my nursery is always located near a water source,” says Jean Baptiste. To manage a nursery properly, it needs to be watered at least once a day, weeded and cleaned all the time. These methods are extended to other farmers in Haut-Nkam Division by Jean Baptiste.

By Payong Marquise