QUALITY OF PLANTS PRODUCED IN FOREST NURSERIES OF NAYARIT

Abstract

The survival of a forest plantation depends on several factors, among which the plant quality is outstanding. Despite its importance, in Mexico there is a lack of information about this parameter in the forest nurseries.as well as of the procedures for their assessment. In this paper the plant quality of 1 tree species in tropical and temperate climates was determined in seven nurseries of the state of Nayarit. For data collection a random sampling of 0.15 % of individuals produced by each nursery and taxon was performed. The plant quality was classified as high, medium or low, based on the height, diameter, shoot and root dry biomass, plus the contents of N, P, K, C and lignin. Results indicate that, for the most part, the plant produced in the assessed nurseries is of average quality according to the suggested standards. The variables that were better qualified were the robustness index and the phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen content. On the other hand, the dry biomass ratio / dry root biomass received the lowest rating. It is recommend further evaluation of production quality in these and other nurseries, and track established plantations in order to validate the information provided by the assessment of plant quality.