As the Sun sets over Nagamalai, R Pandian's humble house in the foothills comes alive. Children and women of the neighbourhood start arriving and arranging themselves in the portico. While some begin to sieve and mix red sand with water making a dough out of mud, others dig into a large rectangular carton box, pulling out plastic dabbas that jingle with what looks like gems of various shapes, colours and sizes. Grabbing the boxes enthusiastically, the children sit cross-legged on the floor and start making small laddu-like balls out of the wet mud. Pandian arrives, asking them for seeds of the banyan and peepal trees, giving us a clue to the silent revolution taking shape over eight months now.
Madurai, Tamil Nadu, 26/07/2017: For Metroplus: Pandian along with children making seed balls to be dispersed on tank bunds around Madurai. Photo: R. Ashok
Seed bombs/balls is now being seen as a solution to fast depleting green cover. In Madurai, some nature enthusiasts have taken it upon themselves to make and disperse seed balls. Like Pandian, who sets off on his bike every morning, armed with a thoratti (sickle used for plucking flowers or fruits from tall branches of trees) and few cloth bags. “I keep looking up at the trees, gauging if they have flowered, fruited or if the fruits have ripened and the seeds are old enough to fall down or be plucked.”
Showing his treasure of over 30 varieties of seeds that he has been collecting meticulously, Pandian explains how he plans to revive some rare trees. “I concentrate on trees that are nearly lost like Poovandhi and Naruvilampazham. They are endemic to the region and hardly six or seven of them are left today,” he says. “After searching for a month, I found a pair of Poovandhi trees inside the premises of a bank on North Veli Street in the heart of the city. But I noticed that the seeds were unfortunately falling on a concrete floor and swept off every morning. I collected the seeds, dried them and now they are ready to be put inside a mud ball and dispersed.”
Even as Pandian explains about the seeds, he is joined by his little daughters Saraha and Natasha, who help him make the balls every evening. “I involve kids and sometimes even my mother and wife. On weekends, we sit together for hours rolling seed balls.” So far, Pandian has dispersed around 10,000 balls along the bunds of Thenpazhanji, Vilachery, Sematankulam and Thiruparankundram Kanmois. “Tank bunds are perfect places for seeds of huge trees like the Banyan, Peepal, fig and Jamun. The seeds of shrubs like Arali and Amanakku can be dispersed on barren lands,” he suggests. “Native shrubs that grow faster are viable alternatives for invasive species like Seemai Karuvelam. For instance, Amanakku is a rapidly growing shrub that attracts insect-eating birds and was used as a natural pest control technique in traditional farming.”
Seed balls concept is advantageous than planting saplings, say some environmentalists. “Planting saplings needs money and manpower and can be successful only if done inside compounded premises. But in seed balls, our aim is to disperse as many seeds as possible and to reach them to earth. It's a long term process and may take at least five years to show initial results, but it's effective in creating patches of greenery,” says Pandian.
“Natural propagation of seeds carried out by birds and bats is a fragile pattern which is now disturbed due to various causes. Erosion of top soil in many places, plastering of earth inside city areas are also other reasons for trees being lost. In that case, manual dispersion of seeds becomes the need and mass dispersal through seed balls is the only way,” reiterates Raveendran Natarajan, who trains school children in seed balls.
Not all seeds are similar. The time they take to germinate is as varied as the shapes and sizes. Some seeds may germinate in the very first spell of rains while some may take months to years. “The idea of putting them in a mud ball instead of direct sowing is to protect them from being eaten away by ants, insects and birds. The mud acts as a localised space of nutrient and habitat for the seed,” explains Pandian, who along with his friends of 'Tirunagar Pakkam', a youth environmental group has planted over 8,000 palm seeds in the past three years. “Revival of palm trees is a major objective for us. Palms are native to drylands and don’t need much care or water, but may take over 45 years to become an adult tree.”
“The months of July and August is the right time for dispersing seed balls,” says Karthikeyan Parkavithai, an organic farmer from Tirumangalam. “As the Tamil saying goes 'Aadi Pattam Thedi Vithai...' (Sow the seeds in the month of Aadi for maximum yield), seeds if sown now will withstand for two months until the monsoons in October.” “Every tree produces thousands of seeds annually but very few germinate and live to become full grown trees. It's just plain probability.”
Annavayal Sa Kalimuthu, an organic farmer says that native seeds are to be saved so that the future generation can reinstate lost species. “Trees grown from seeds are belived to be stronger than a planted sapling.” Some of the extremely rare species of seeds in Pandian's collection are Ilavam, Palasam, Karungali, Sengali, Sarakondrai, Konnai, Vanni, Senkondrai and Thambaham. Pandian plans to create and maintain a seed bank in future.
How to make a seed ball:
Collect seeds from trees or the ground and store them in a dry container. Let them dry under sun and wind for months, so that the moisture content evaporates.
Check the seeds periodically to avoid fungal infestation and dust accumulation. Save them from ants and insects,
Mix equal portions of sieved red soil, river sand and karambai mud. Add dried and powdered cow dung to the mixture. Pour some water and knead it to make a smooth dough-like mass.
Make small round balls and insert the seeds in them. You may choose to either mix different kinds of seeds or keep just one type in a ball.
Dry the balls in shade for a couple of days, until they become hard.
Disperse the seed balls in suitable areas, like barren lands, tank bunds. Rare seeds can be put in protected areas, inside bushes where cattle may not graze easily.
