Challenges and Opportunities of Small Scale Forest Nursery Operators of Diadi, Nueva Vizcaya

This study was carried to ascertain demographic, socio-economic, biological, gender and development of nursery oper-ators in Diadi, Nueva Vizcaya. The survey method was adopted to generate data using a semi-structured questionnaire floated to 38 respondents. Descriptive statistics like means and percentages were utilized in analyzing the socio-economic variables, production and sales of seedlings, biological and technical information-s. About 114 persons were employed in this enterprise. The result revealed that there is an average of P 3, 333 (pesos) as an additional income/month derived by nursery operators is P3, 333 or an annual income of P40, 000 by operating a small scale forest nursery. The socio-economic contributions of this small scale nursery enterprise included source of income, employment and revenue generation to the government. Other benefits were environmental protection, beautification and decorative services. Five major species were grown by nursery operators. These includes indigenous, dipterocarp, premium, fast growing, and Fruit trees. Regardless of its specie classification, all were for sale. Major buyers were Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Local Government Units (LGU) and private individuals. DENR prefers reforestation species while LGU and private individuals prefers fruit trees to enhance their orchard. Sales are high during months of May to November and sales fluctuate during rest of the months. Observations showed that private nursery operators tended to produce few species. Few nursery operators were willing to take chances with alternative species, unless they knew that a demand existed for those species. Women-s groups appeared to be more active in nursery management.