The Special Secretary says the Forest Department plans to drop 50 lakh seed balls in select area across the state during the year. The department intends to plant One billion seeds in this way across the state by the year 2030
The Indian State of Telangana has launched an ambitious reforestation scheme to extend the green cover in the state.
Dubbed as ‘Hara Bahara’, the scheme would extensively use drones for aerial reforestation, also known as ‘seed bombing’.
Special Chief Secretary V. Shanti Kumari put the scheme into action on Wednesday (September 8, 2021) when she launched the first battery of drones in Anjaneya Abhayaranyam in Yadagirigutta, which is a part of Yadagiri-Bhuvanagiri district.
The district collector Pamella Satpathy was also present when the project was launched in an eco-park in the Raigiri-1 reserve forest block.
The Special Secretary says the Forest Department plans to drop 50 lakh seed balls in a select area across the state during the year. The department intends to plant One billion seeds in this way across the state by the year 2030
Seed bombing is an ancient Japanese practice called Tsuchi Dango, meaning ‘Earth Dumpling’ It was reintroduced in 1938 by the Japanese microbiologist/ farmer and philosopher Masanobu Fukuoka (1913–2008)
She says this technique is widely used to extend green cover in inaccessible areas like high altitude areas, dense interior forest areas and rocky or difficult terrain and will yield favourable results.
Through new technology, it will also be possible to monitor the growth and activity of the seed balls after a year or so.
She was also pleased to note that the target of planting 2.30 crore saplings across all the districts of the state under the ‘Haritha Haran’ scheme had been successfully achieved. The scheme was launched seven years ago.
Seed bombs are little balls of life made up of a combination of compost, clay and seeds. The compost and clay act as a carrier so they can be launched into inaccessible areas. While the compost nourishes the seeds with nutrients to germinate, the clay binds the seed bomb so it doesn’t break when it hits the ground.
Seed bombing is an ancient Japanese practice called Tsuchi Dango, meaning ‘Earth Dumpling’ It was reintroduced in 1938 by the Japanese microbiologist/ farmer and philosopher Masanobu Fukuoka (1913–2008)
Vegetation can be introduced on any land by throwing or dropping seed balls in the ground. Seeds planted in this way have a success rate of 50 per cent.
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