One day training programme titled, “Nursery Management Techniques of Commercial Floricultural Crops” funded by UNESCO

One day training programme titled, “Nursery Management Techniques of Commercial Floricultural Crops” was organized and conducted by the Department of Plant Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka. The event was funded by the UNESCO and it was held at the faculty farm premises on 29th of October, 2019 with the aim of strengthening the relationship between the Faculty and the Farmer community in the region.

The training programme was specifically designed to strengthen the essential skills on nursery management techniques among nursery producers who are engaged in commercial floriculture. The event was started at 8.30 a.m. with the welcome speech by Ms. Darshani Wijayawardhana, coordinator of the event. Lectures on introduction to nursery management, nursery management as a business, nursery techniques and plant propagation techniques were done by Dr. D.A.U.D. Devasinghe, and lectures on common pest and diseases in ornamental crops with a special focus on orchid and anthurium cultivations were delivered by Ms. Darshani Wijayawardhana. Practical session on essential techniques on seed nursery preparation, vegetative reproduction methods, orchid and anthurium propagation and potting techniques was conducted during the evening session of day by allowing an opportunity to obtain the hands on experience to the growers.

A discussion session was held at the end of the training programme. Meantime, a questionnaire was distributed among the participants to assess the farmers’ feedback on the programme. Feedbacks are indicated that almost all participants were highly satisfied on the programme and it is highlighted the need of more programmes of such. Finally, a certificate and a token of appreciation for the presence were offered for all participants.