Ensuring seedling quality through nursery accreditation

The fruit tree nursery accreditation scheme implemented by the Philippine Department of Agriculture (DA) has been promoted to enhance the supply of high quality fruit tree planting materials and reduce the number of dubious seedling market players. This paper examines the advantages of the fruit tree nursery accreditation scheme and draws implications for possible formulation of a scheme to accredit forest tree nurseries in the Philippines. Data were collected from interviews with accredited fruit tree nursery operators and the nursery accreditation officer-in-charge in Northern Mindanao. There has been an increase in the number of applicants for nursery accreditation each year since 2004, as a result of the advantages nursery operators observed from those who had already been accredited. A major advantage is that only accredited fruit tree nursery operators can join in the government procurement of seedlings through a bidding process which is always for substantial volumes. As a form of advertisement, accredited nurseries are posted on the government website thus creating a wide range of market opportunities which results in increased sales. Other advantages such as receiving free training in improving seedling production and occasionally receiving high quality propagation materials (scions and seedlings), subsidies for pesticides and fertilizers and free soil tests were enjoyed by accredited fruit tree nurseries. These opportunities encouraged other nursery operators to apply for accreditation. Accreditation by the DA places emphasis on maintaining high genetic quality of planting materials as well as the physical quality of the seedlings. Accrediting forestry nurseries is seen as a potential policy option that can expand the supply of high quality tree seedlings in the Philippines, as is the case with fruit tree seedlings