Question: farmer asked a query regarding soil drenching for nursery bed preparation.
Answer: to make the soil free from soil-borne disease-causing pathogens (most common disease in the nursery is the ‘damping-off’) drench the bed with 0.2% solution of chlorothalonil or carboxin so as to saturate the soil up to a depth of 10-15 cm.keep it covered, immediately after treating, with a polythene sheet or gunny bag or thick paper for 2 days.uncover the soil and get it loosened and leave it as such for 3 to 4 days. treat the dry seeds with carboxin@ 2 g/kg seeds against seed-borne pathogens.