An awareness rally for ‘Cauvery Calling’, an agroforestry initiative by the Isha Foundation, was launched here recently.
The rally was flagged off by Jaggi Vasudev, founder of the Isha Foundation.
The rally will cover 28 districts in both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in the Cauvery basin, according to a press release.
The initiative aims to enable farmers to plant 242 crore sapling in the Cauvery basin in an attempt to increase the water levels of the river. The approach is economically lucrative to increase its acceptability in the farming community, according to the release.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Jaggi Vasudev described the suicides committed by farmers as a “shameful matter.” Farmers always had 20 to 30 trees on their fields irrespective of the type of farming, he claimed. He said that Isha has approached the governments of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to provide subsidy for four years for the farmers who convert to agroforestry. The awareness rally will continue for a month.
Mr. Jaggi Vasudev will also lead a bike rally in September from Talacauvery in Karnataka to Tiruvarur in Tamil Nadu to garner support for the initiative.
