Sapling plantation initiative enters sixth year

The sapling plantation initiative Vanathukkul Tiruppur by the NGO Vetry, which has planted nearly eight lakh saplings across Tiruppur district, will enter the sixth year on Sunday.

District Collector K. Vijayakarthikeyan will plant the first sapling at Kangeyam block to mark the sixth year’s inauguration, said the NGO’s founder and president T.R. Sivaram. This year’s target is to plant two lakh trees across the district and attempting to the milestone of ten lakh or one million trees.

The tree sapling nursery located on Mangalam Road houses about 40,000 saplings with indigenous species of teak, rosewood, neem, jackfruit and guava. “We do not use any foreign or invasive species,” Mr. Sivaram said. The species and plantation techniques are chosen with the assistance of Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding (IFGTB), Coimbatore.

“We focus mainly on Dharapuram, Kangeyam and Vellakoil blocks, which are rain shadow areas and are driest blocks in the district,” Mr. Sivaram said, noting that nearly a quarter of all the saplings are planted in these three blocks. A study on the environmental impact of this initiative, such as improvement in soil quality and air quality, is expected to be completed by August, he said.

Maintenance of saplings in the nursery did not get affected due to the COVID-19 lockdown as the nursery staff were unable to return to their home towns and stayed back, Mr. Sivaram said. As the plantation drive begins in June at the onset of southwest monsoon, there has been no delay in the inauguration this year.