COIMBATORE, SEP 18
About 1,500 farmers from all over Tamil Nadu participated in Cauvery Calling’s mega seminar on tree-based agriculture held in Trichy on Sunday. The seminar was organized on the farm of Dr. Duraisamy, a farmer pioneering tree-based agriculture. He is the owner of the agricultural forest called ‘Little Ooty’, which has more than 1 lakh different types of trees. Many other pioneer farmers and agronomists joined the seminar to provide proper guidelines to the farmers introducing them to tree-based agriculture.
Poomalai, a tree-based agriculture farmer from the Cuddalore district, revealed, “Malaivembu can be harvested and sold in a very short time. I recently sold malaivembu grown in my land on 3 acres for Rs. 12 lakh. Along with trees, I am also cultivating pepper in the plains.”
- “Farmers can earn 3-5 times more profit than normal crops,” shared farmers who are now pioneering the tree-based agriculture
- The jackfruit tree is not only beneficial to the environment but also has medicinal properties to prevent diseases like diabetes, cancer, obesity and constipation
“The pepper vine starts fruiting from the fourth year. A kilo of pepper is currently selling for Rs.1,000. 300 kg to 400 kg of pepper can be grown per acre. In that way, we will get an additional profit of Rs 3 to 4 lakhs per year from pepper alone,” he added.
Mayavel, a scientist at the Institute of Forest Genetics and Plant Breeding in Coimbatore said, “The demand for wood in India is 153 million cubic meters per year. Only about 50-60 percent of the demand can be met domestically. For the remaining requirement, we import timber in large quantities from foreign countries. Hence, farmers can definitely see profit from tree farming. Depending on the soil and water quality of the land and the maintenance of the farmers, mountain neem can be harvested and profited in 6-7 years. Currently, a tonne of neem for plywood is being sold at Rs 8,500. About 125 tons can be harvested from one acre.”
Retired Associate Director of Agriculture Dr. Haridas elaborated on the multiple ways of profiting from jackfruit trees. He said, “According to the current estimate, a jackfruit tree can generate revenue of Rs 1 crore from fruit and Rs 1 crore from wood for 50 years. Apart from selling the fruit directly, it can be sold in some other ways like jam, alva, biryani, coffee etc. The jackfruit tree is not only beneficial to the environment but also has medicinal properties to prevent diseases like diabetes, cancer, obesity and constipation.”
Speaking at the function, Tamil Maran, Field Coordinator of the Cauvery Calling Movement, said, “Due to the efforts of Sadhguru and the field work carried out by volunteers of Cauvery Calling Movement, the interest of farmers to switch to tree-based agriculture has increased. As a result, despite the pandemic, we have distributed 2.10 crore saplings to the farmers in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in the last 2 years. This year we plan to distribute one crore saplings in Tamil Nadu alone. Based on many years of our direct experience in this field, we have witnessed that farmers who grow in tree based agriculture earn 3-5 times more profit than conventional crops like paddy and sugarcane.
The opening ceremony of the seminar witnessed the participation of Dr. Duraisamy, his daughter Dr. Vinola and many other pioneer farmers, including Thirumalai, Iraman, Pakyaraj.
