COIMBATORE, JULY 10
To mark the week-long Vana Mahotsavam, volunteers of the Cauvery Calling movement organised tree planting drive and a special online seminar for farmers, says a release here on Friday.
Over two saplings were planted on about 650 acres of agricultural land in more than 30 districts, including Coimbatore, Erode, Tiruppur, Krishnagiri, Thiruvannamalai, Villupuram, Chengalpattu, Cuddalore, Dindigul, Karur, Namakkal, Trichy, Thiruvarur, Thanjavur, Pudukottai and Tenkasi.
In order to improve the economy of farmers and nurture environmental development, cash value trees such as Teak, Red Sandalwood, Sandalwood, Mahogany, Malabar Kino and Mountain Neem were planted. Volunteers of the Cauvery Calling movement studied the soil and water quality of the agricultural lands and recommended soil-friendly economically viable wood species.
Online Agricultural Seminar
A special online seminar for small and medium farmers on how to create a profitable tree-based farming system was organized by Cauvery Calling on July 7 which marked the culmination of the week-long Vana Mahotsavam.
Guest speakers include Dr. Parthiben, Dean, Government Forest College and Research Institute, Mettupalayam; KM Shivakumar, Professor, Head Agricultural Economics, Tamil Nadu Agroforestry University; Suresh Kannan, Owner, Suresh Timber Company; and Harish Babu, Chief Executive Officer at Sobha Ltd – Interiors Division. Farmers Senthil Kumar and Amarnath also participated and shared their rich experience and knowledge of the tree-based farming model which has yielded rich economic and ecological dividends.
The webinar was broadcasted live on the Isha Agricultural Movement YouTube channel
Cauvery Calling volunteers facilitated the planting of millions of saplings on the remembrance days and birth anniversaries of agricultural scientists . Nammazhvar, Nel Jayaraman and. Maram Thangasamy all of whom have mentored various environmental projects in Isha.
‘Vana Mahotsavam’ is celebrated annually in the first week of July to create environmental awareness across India and to encourage a culture of nurturing local ecology among people.
Cauvery Calling promotes the tree-based farming model on private agricultural lands. Last year alone, farmers planted 1.1 crore trees on their lands in the Cauvery river basin spanning Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The team has worked extensively with over 70,000 farmers for nearly two decades to prove the model on ground. It has been shown to increase farmer income by 3-8 times in 5-7 years while simultaneously increasing soil nutrients and recharging groundwater tables.
