The District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) has launched a massive sapling planting initiative and decided to plant 11 lakh saplings later this year in the entire district, involving the workers of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).
The DRDA has raised 11 lakh seedlings in its two farms at Sundaramudayan and Nagachi and the Forest department, two lakh seedlings in four nurseries at a total cost of Rs. 84 lakh and the plantation would begin in October after the onset of north east monsoon, A Palani, Project Director, DRDA said.
The saplings would be planted in all the eleven blocks, one lakh each in the district and the MGNREGS workers would be involved in watering the saplings for three years to achieve maximum survival rate, he said. “We have identified the sites and the pitting work will commence during August-September,” he told The Hindu .
Collector S. Natarajan inspected the nursery raised by the DRDA at Nagachi and by the forest department at Aartangarai on Thursday. S. Nagarajan, Assistant Director of Horticulture and nursery in-charge, explained the different species of saplings raised in the farms at Sundaramudayan and Nagachi.
They have raised two lakh seedlings of ‘Naattu Poovarasu” a native species which faced extinction and in a bid to revive it, he said.
The other species raised in the farms included the robust growing ‘neer marudhu,’ ‘vagai,’ ‘manjal gulmohar,’ vembu, casuarina and teak, he said.
Two lakh saplings of babul trees have also been raised to be planted inside Ooranies (water bodies) for aiding winter migratory birds to nestle and breed. Plantation of babul trees would begin in February when the water level receded in the waterbodies, he added.
Sunken ponds
Mr. Palani said the saplings would be planted with 10-metre gap and in between, mini sunken ponds would be dug for watering.
This was the first time such ponds were being created for watering the plants, he said.
The saplings would be five to six months old and well grown when they were planted and they were expected to achieve 90 per cent survival, he added.
