TRICHY, MAY 26
Cauvery Calling movement of Isha Foundation is planning to plant 4.5 lakh tree saplings in agriculture lands in Trichirappalli during this year. Tamil Nadu Minister for Municipal Administration and Water Supply, Mr. K.N. Nehru on Sunday launched the tree planting programme at the Isha Yoga Centre in Thillai Nagar, Tiruchirappalli and distributed tree saplings to farmers in the presence of Trichy Mayor M. Anbazhagan.
Inaugurating the programme, K.N. Nehru recalled that “Twenty years ago, at a tree planting event at Anna University, Chennai, former Chief Minister Kalaignar Karunanidhi participated as chief guest along with Sadhguru and inaugurated Isha’s tree planting initiative’’.
During that event, Kalaignar said a wonderful phrase, ‘We will nurture the tree; the tree will nurture us.’ It’s delightful to see that through this initiative, 109 million trees have been planted so far. I extend my heartfelt congratulations for the continued success of Isha’s tree planting efforts.
Farmers should plant not only timber trees but also fruit-bearing trees like avocado, which can provide significant income. Planting fruit trees will also increase food production.
Throughout Tamil Nadu, fallow agricultural lands without workers should be used for tree planting. Planting trees benefits the country, the people, and the farmers. Besides tree planting, Isha should also collaborate with the Tamil Nadu government in cleaning and maintaining lakes. I am very happy to be part of this wonderful event,” he said.
Earlier, Swami Srimukha, coordinator of Isha’s ‘Save the Soil’ movement, said, “Under the Cauvery Calling initiative, we have begun the task of planting 12.1 million trees on agricultural lands across Tamil Nadu for the current financial year (2024-25). In Trichy district alone, we plan to plant 450,000 saplings this year. Last year, farmers in Trichy planted 292,773 saplings,” he said.
Since 2002, Isha has been continuously working on environmental improvement and tree planting. The Cauvery Calling initiative was launched in 2019 to rejuvenate the Cauvery River.
The initiative provides free technical assistance for tree planting and maintenance. This includes selecting suitable trees for the soil, water management, weed management, and intercropping advice, with staff visiting agricultural lands to offer guidance. Farmers can contact 80009 80009 for additional information and sapling needs.
