An analytical study on the constraints faced by nursery owners in managing nursery enterprises in Assam

Introduction

In a nursery, plants are propagated, cared for, grown and then sold for use in commercial or residential gardens. Improved quality seedlings are raised under ideal circumstances until they are ready to be planted on a small or large scale. Retail nurseries and wholesale nurseries both sell saplings that have been propagated in nurseries. All nurseries exist solely to supply young plants or saplings to gardens, farms, agriculture, forestry and for environmental preservation. A nursery gives its clients all varieties of young plants, including native, imported and exotic plants. A nursery client may be a professional farmer, a home gardener, or even a landscaper. An indoor-outdoor, container-grown and earth-planted plant variety must be catered to by a nursery firm. Nurseries generally have necessary horticultural supplies on hand, including various plant seeds, soil mix, fertilizers, insecticides, garden chemicals, garden tools and the ability to answer questions about the backyard.

The nurseries help with all kinds of queries and purchases in addition to plants. Without regard to location, nurseries can be established as long as there is enough acreage available for plant growth. Nursery business can be started in a backyard, on an open piece of ground, a greenhouse, or on agricultural land. The knowledge about exactly what kind of plant species to develop must be possessed before starting a firm. Typically, nurseries in metropolitan areas would favor cultivating ornamental trees, blooming plants, decorative plants and veggie plants. Plants are distributed in nurseries in accordance with the identified market need. As majority of the industries are extremely seasonal, prior planning is necessary so that marketing may be done as the season begins. Depending on the price invested and the availability of this house, the location of the nursery is predetermined. A nursery company is initially started in the backyard if enough space is not available. All that is needed to start a plant nursery is an open space. The nursery's location must be convenient for future growth, close to important towns and cities, transportation and employment opportunities. The location of the nursery site generally has nutrient-rich or medium soil and good water resources. The nursery site should have healthy soil drainage and be pathogen-free.

Objective of the study

To identify the problems faced by the nursery owners in managing their nursery enterprises.

Methodology

The area of the conducted study were the three districts of Assam namely, Jorhat, Golaghat and Nagaon. Nagaon district falls under Middle Assam while Jorhat and Golaghat districts fall under Upper Assam. Nagaon district is located at Latitude 26.3, Longitude-92.6. It sprawls across almost four thousand square kilometres of fertile alluvial plains and thickly forested hills. It shares the boundary with Brahmaputra River along the north, Hojai and Karbi Anglong districts on the south, Golaghat and Karbi Anglong on the east and Karbi Anglong on the west. The district has a population of 18,92,550 with the sex ratio of 962 females per 1000 males. The literacy rate of the district stands at 71.04%. Presently there are two subdivisions namely, Nagaon and Kaliabor. Golaghat district is located at Latitude-26.5, Longitude-93.9. Golaghat district shares border with Jorhat district to the north, Dimapur district to the south, Sonitpur district to the west, Wokha District to the South. To the west it shares border with Meghalaya state, Nagaland State to the south. The district has a population of 10,66,888 with the sex ratio of 964 females per 1000 males. The literacy rate of the district stands at 77.43%. Presently there are four subdivisions namely, Golaghat, Sarupathar, Bokakhat Town and Merapani. Jorhat district is located at Latitude-26.7, Longitude-94.1. Jorhat District shares border with Sivasagar district to the east, Mokokchung district to the south. It shares border with Nagaland state to the south. The district has a population of 9,24,952 with the sex ratio of 963 females per 1000 males. The literacy rate stands at 78.00%. Presently Jorhat district consists of two subdivisions namely, Jorhat and Titabar. A multi-stage, purposive cum convenience sampling design was adopted for the present study. Three districts of Assam namely, Jorhat, Nagaon and Golaghat were selected purposively for the study as these districts are in close proximity to the state's only Agricultural University where the latter has been continuously striving to increase the productivity and income of nursery owners. From each district, two sub-divisions were selected purposively keeping in mind the area cover under nursery production. A total number of 90 nurseries were selected using convenience sampling. 30 nurseries from each district were taken under the study. A planned study schedule and the personal interview method were used to acquire the data for the investigation. In order to get the most complete and correct responses from the respondents, enough thought and effort was put into the schedule's understanding, logical flow, impartial structure, wording and length. Various suitable statistical methods were used keeping in view the type of data and objectives of the study. The qualitative responses to all the research schedule items were initially coded and quantified using the relevant scoring procedures for each. The sum of each variable's scores against each respondent was computed. These results were then imported to an Excel master table data sheet for statistical analysis.

Constraints faced by the nursery owners-

The nature and degree of the various types of problems experienced by nursery owners in operating and managing their business were investigated. A schedule was prepared with various types of problems that could be a restriction for nursery owners in carrying out various operations in the nursery business. The problems were grouped into nine categories, viz., personal problems, social problems, land utilization problems, marketing problems, transportation problems, institutional problems, problems related to natural calamities, problems related to inputs and problems related to storage. Frequency of various problems faced by the nursery owners were calculated and tabulated. After calculating the frequency and percentage of various problems faced by the nursery owners, ranking of problems was done with the help of Weighted Mean Score (WMS). The following formula was used to calculate WMS:

Results

Profile characteristics of nursery owners-1. Age Data revealed that majority of the respondents (55.55%) belonged to the middle-aged category, followed by young age category (32.22%). Only 12.22% of the respondents belonged to the old age category. The calculated mean (41.6) indicates that the majority of the respondents belonged to the middle age category. Shinde et al. (2020) [10] stated that more than one third (41.67%) of Bt cotton growers were found in middle age group of 36-50 years. Thakuria et al. (2025) [13][14][15] reported that majority of the respondents (43.75%) were in the middle-aged group adoption of recommended litchi production technology. Toppo (2005) [17] revealed that majority (71.67%) of farm women belonged to middle age group followed by 26.67% of them with young age and 1.66% with old age group. [16] where 41.25% of the respondents had received higher secondary school education. Singh (2007) [11] indicated that majority (58.83%) of the respondents were educated up to secondary and higher secondary level, remaining 25.00 and 16.66% were educated above higher secondary education and primary level of education, respectively. 3 revealed that the majority of the respondents (46.66%) belonged to the high level of education category, followed by those having medium level of education (42.22%). While 11.11 per cent of the respondents were found to be having a low level of education. The calculated mean (4.08) indicates that the majority of the respondents had a high level of education. Pandeti (2005) [5] found that the majority (21.66%) of them had only completed their primary education.

Family size

Data presented in table 4 revealed that the majority (56.66%) of the respondents belonged to small sized family followed by medium sized family (34.44%) and large sized family (8.88%). Banerjee and Biradar (2016) [1] found that most of the fodder growers (66.32%) belonged to category of small family size followed by medium family size (32.63%) and only large family size (1.05%). Pradesh (2019) [7] reported that more than two-third (64.17%) of the nursery owners had middle family size followed by small (5.83%) and finally 4.17% of them had very large family size. [16] reported that majority of the respondents (41.25%) were small farmers followed by 33.75% respondents were marginal farmers. 17.50 per cent of respondents belonged to medium category of farmers. Only 7.50per cent of respondents were semimedium farmers. Pandey et al. (2015) [6] found out that majority (75.56%) of tribal fish farmers had small size (<5 acre) of land holding. The respondents were further classified into low, medium and high-income categories according to their annual income. Data presented in table 7 revealed that majority (62.22%) of the respondents belonged to medium income category followed by low-income category (24.44%) and high-income category (13.33%). Thakuria et al. (2024) [16] revealed that majority of the respondents (66.00%) had medium annual net farm income followed by 23.75 per cent respondents with high annual net farm income. Chandramouli (2005) [3] found that majority of small farmers (42.50%) fell into the semi-medium income category, whereas the majority of medium (47.50%) and large (95.00%) farmers fell into the high-income category.

Labour Availability

Data presented in table 8 revealed that majority (80.00%) of the respondents had easy access to labour available on both weekdays and weekends followed by medium (13.33%) access to labour and low access to labour (6.66%). [9] found that majority of potato growers (66.67%) had farm experience in the medium range (5 to 9 years), while 21.11 per cent of them had high farm experience (above 9 years) and the remainder 12.22% had low farm experience (below 5 years). Solanki et al. (2003) [12] found that just 10.00% of growers had 11 to 15 years of experience, while the majority of growers (37.41%) had between 6 and 10 years, 28.52% had between 15.00 and 25.00 and 24.07% had between 1 and 5 years. [2] revealed that majority (68.33%) of the nursery owners did not undergo any training and the remaining 31.67% had undergone training. Priyadharshini et al. (2016) [8] concluded that majority (85.60%) of the respondents had undergone more than one training. Jahagirdar et al. (2017) [4] revealed that 82.50% of total numbers of respondents did not undergo any training. 11 indicate that nursery owners encounter a wide range of problems, which can be grouped under personal, social, land utilization, marketing, transportation, institutional, natural, input-related and storage-related issues.

Personal problems

Majority (74.44%) of respondents reported lack of selfconfidence as a "not so serious" issue, while 18.89% considered it "serious" and only 6.67% rated it as "very serious." About 51.11% of the nursery owners considered lack of formal education as "not so serious," whereas 28.89% felt it was "serious" and 20% regarded it as "very serious." Lack of time due to family burden was a major issue for many respondents, with 64.44% reporting it as "serious." Similarly, lack of prior experience was perceived as "serious" by 31.11% and "very serious" by 21.11% of the nursery owners. Interestingly, lack of communication with fellow nursery growers was not considered a problem by any respondent as all (100%) marked it as "not so serious."

Social problems

Most respondents (80%) reported lack of support from family members as "not so serious," while 15.56% considered it "serious." Likewise, lack of appreciation from other nursery growers was viewed as "not so serious" by a large majority (91.11%).

Land utilization problems

Lack of capital was identified as a "serious" issue by 46.67% of nursery owners, while 37.78% viewed it as "not so serious." Lack of knowledge on proper utilization of area under nursery was a concern for many, with 64.44% rating it as "serious."

Marketing problems

About 68.89% of nursery owners reported lack of marketing facilities as "not so serious," while 21.11% considered it "serious." On the other hand, lack of knowledge about proper marketing techniques was found to be a "serious" problem by 70% of respondents.

Similarly, 58.89% of the respondents viewed lack of knowledge about producing standard quality produce as a "serious" issue.

Transportation problems

The poor condition of roads was found to be "not so serious" for 70% of the respondents. However, nonavailability of own vehicles was reported by 86.67% as "not so serious." In contrast, high cost of transportation was viewed as "serious" by 60% of the nursery owners. Interestingly, unavailability of transport at the time of need was reported as "not so serious" by all respondents (100%).

Institutional problems

Half of the nursery owners (50%) considered lack of need-based training as a "serious" problem, while 47.78% found it "not so serious." Similarly, lack of coordination was "serious" for 64.44% of the respondents.

Problems related to natural calamities

Drought and hailstorm were perceived as "not so serious" by all respondents (100%), possibly due to local climatic conditions. However, flood and high rainfall were significant challenges; 23.33% and 22.22% of the respondents, respectively, considered them "very serious."

Input-related problems

About 52.22% of the nursery owners indicated that lack of knowledge about the use of pesticides and fertilizers was a "serious" issue. Additionally, high cost of inputs such as seeds, pots and fertilizers was considered "serious" by 76.67% of the respondents and nonavailability of desired inputs at the right time was reported as a "very serious" problem by 34.44%.

Storage-related problems

About 46.67% of respondents mentioned lack of knowledge about proper storage of perishable produce as "not so serious," while 36.67% found it "serious." Lack of proper infrastructure for storage was a "serious" issue for 62.22% of the nursery owners. Others (please specify) -

Ranking of problems faced by the nursery owners using WMS:

Based on the weighted mean score (WMS), various problems faced by nursery owners were ranked according to their severity. The analysis (Table 12) revealed that among personal problems, "lack of time due to family burden" ranked first, followed by "lack of prior experience" and "lack of formal education." Under social problems, "lack of support from family members" was ranked first. In terms of land utilization, "lack of knowledge on proper utilization of nursery area" ranked highest, while among marketing problems, "lack of knowledge about proper marketing techniques" occupied the top position. For transportation, "high cost of transportation" emerged as the most serious issue and under institutional problems, "lack of coordination" ranked first. Considering natural calamities, "high rainfall" was reported as the most severe problem. In the case of input-related issues, "non-availability of desired inputs at the right time" ranked first, followed by "high cost of inputs." Regarding storage problems, "lack of proper infrastructure" ranked highest. Majority (80%) of the respondents had easy access to labour available on both weekdays and weekends. The study also revealed that most (52.22%) of the respondents had medium level experience in nursery business while majority (71.11%) of the respondents had medium level of training exposure and had attended 1-3 number of trainings conducted by various external sources. Findings revealed that while personal and social problems were comparatively less severe, operational and resource-related issues posed major challenges. Among personal constraints, lack of time due to family burden and limited prior experience were significant. Land utilization difficulties mainly arose from inadequate knowledge of proper space management, whereas marketing problems were largely due to poor understanding of marketing techniques and standard production practices. Transportation challenges such as high costs and limited vehicle availability also affected nursery operations. Institutional issues were marked by lack of coordination and insufficient training opportunities. Although natural calamities like floods and heavy rainfall impacted some nurseries, input-related problems were the most critical. The non-availability of desired inputs at the right time and their high cost ranked as the top constraints based on Weighted Mean Score (WMS). Overall ranking indicated that input-related problems (mean score 2.081) were the most severe, followed by land utilization (1.835) and storage-related problems (1.784). Social and climatic factors were found to be relatively less influential. The findings imply that regular trainings and on-field demonstrations by extension officers could play a crucial role in minimizing these challenges. Through practical demonstrations and need-based capacity-building programs, extension officers can help nursery growers acquire handson knowledge about space management, modern nursery practices, efficient input use and cost-effective marketing techniques. Such interactions would also foster better coordination between nursery operators and institutional agencies, enhance awareness about improved production technologies and build confidence among nursery entrepreneurs. Strengthening extension contact and organizing periodic training-cum-demonstration programs would therefore contribute significantly to overcoming operational and resource-related constraints and improving the overall efficiency and sustainability of nursery enterprises.

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