Containerised nursery wins award
From the Autumn/Winter 2009 edition of Bush Telegraph Magazine.
First germination containerised seedlings at the Tumut nursery facility. Photo by Gavin Jeffries
Forests NSW new Tumut containerised seedling nursery facility was awarded a medal of commendation in the NSW Premier’s Public Sector Awards in the category of ‘Growing Prosperity across NSW’ in November 2008.
Forests NSW nursery manager Steve Sullivan said it was a great thrill for everyone involved in the development of the state-of-the-art pine seedling nursery at Blowering.
“The new facility is crucial to fulfilling Forests NSW ambitious planting program, as it is designed to maximise both efficiency of production and the number of seedlings the nursery can produce,” he said.
Forests NSW estimates 11.6 million seedlings will be planted in 2009. In response, new container nursery development has more than tripled container capacity.
Although still in the ‘construction phase’, Steve said Tumut nursery was scheduled to contribute four million container seedlings to the plantings.
Forests NSW planned, designed and constructed the first stage of the containerised nursery in 2007.
“Construction work commenced in October and by December it was up and running with 1.2 million pine seedlings in stock for 2008 winter plantings.
This was the first time containerised stock had been grown at the nursery,” Steve said. A significant component of the demand related to areas being re-established as a consequence of the Billo Road fire near Tumut in December 2006.
Steve said the beauty of containerised stock was that it could be held until the optimum time to plant, especially when conditions were dry, as containerised pines could be held over for the following year’s planting season. Another big issue was water - a strong selling point for containers is their efficient water use.
The nursery has rolling, modular beds and water saving technologies such as overhead water irrigation booms. The booms also deliver fertiliser, fungicide and pesticides.
The nursery is using genetically improved seed, which adds value from higher germination rates and the production of vigorous and robust seedlings.
The seedlings are better able to survive the harsh and changing climate conditions across New South Wales. Steve said although the nursery program at Blowering was moving towards more containerised stock, it would continue with bare-rooted stock as well, as optimally a mix of both was best to meet varied planting conditions and the needs of a rapidly growing market.
Sarah Chester - Public Affairs & Media, Albury
