El semillero permite preparar el plantel.

Yes. Semillero is related to semilla meaning seed.

The suffix -ero often creates a noun for:

• a place
• a container
• something associated with the root word

So semillero is literally something like seed place / seed bed / seed tray. In agricultural Spanish, it usually refers to the place or container where seeds are started before being transplanted.

Because both semillero and plantel are masculine singular nouns, so they take el.

Here, el can mean either:

• a specific thing already known from context, or
• a general category, especially in technical or instructional language

So this sentence could mean:

• a particular seedbed allows the preparation of a particular plant stock, or
• the seedbed, in general, allows the preparation of the seedlings/plant stock

Spanish often uses the definite article this way in general statements.

This is a very common Spanish structure:

permitir + infinitive

So:

• permite = allows / makes possible
• preparar = to prepare

Together, permite preparar means allows [someone] to prepare or makes it possible to prepare.

A similar example:

• Esto permite ahorrar agua. = This allows you to save water.

Because permitir normally takes the infinitive directly.

Correct:

• permite preparar

Not correct here:

• permite de preparar
• permite para preparar

This is just the pattern of the verb. Compare:

• permitir + infinitive → permite preparar
• servir para + infinitive → sirve para preparar

So para would work with servir, but not with permitir.

Because only the first verb is conjugated. The second verb stays in the infinitive when it expresses the action that is allowed or made possible.

So:

• permite = conjugated verb
• preparar = infinitive

This is similar to English:

• allows to prepare
• makes it possible to prepare

If you used prepara, you would be making it a separate conjugated verb, which would change the structure completely.

In this sentence, plantel is most likely being used in an agricultural sense. It can refer to the young plants / seedlings / planting stock that are being prepared for later planting or transplanting.

This is important because plantel has other meanings in other contexts, such as:

• staff
• team
• squad
• roster

So the meaning depends heavily on context. Here, because of semillero, the agricultural meaning is the natural one.

It is closest to allow or make possible.

Here permitir does not mean literal permission in the human sense. The seedbed is not giving permission. Instead, it is creating the conditions for something to be done.

So natural English translations might be:

• The seedbed allows the preparation of the seedlings.
• The seedbed makes it possible to prepare the seedlings.
• Using the seedbed, you can prepare the seedlings.

Sometimes nursery can work in English, but semillero and vivero are not exactly the same.

A semillero is specifically the place or container where seeds are sown and start growing.

A vivero is broader: it is a plant nursery where plants are grown, often beyond the earliest seed stage.

So:

• semillero = seed-starting area / seedbed / seed tray
• vivero = nursery

In some contexts English uses nursery for both, but Spanish often keeps the distinction clearer.

Roughly: seh-mee-YEH-ro

A few helpful points:

• The stress falls on -lle-: se-mi-/LLE/-ro
• In most of Spain, ll is pronounced like the English y in yes
• So semillero sounds approximately like seh-mee-YEH-ro

Depending on the region, the ll sound can vary a little, but y is a good practical pronunciation for most learners.

Yes, that is possible, but the nuance is slightly different.

• El semillero permite preparar el plantel
  = the seedbed makes it possible to prepare the plant stock

• El semillero sirve para preparar el plantel
  = the seedbed is used for preparing the plant stock

So:

• permite emphasizes possibility or enabling
• sirve para emphasizes function or purpose

Both are natural, but they are not exactly identical.