If competition leads to excellence in humans, why not in trees? It is with this idea that the Tirupati Urban Development Authority (TUDA) has proposed to develop a park with high-density plantation, with the larger aim of environment management and carbon dioxide mitigation.
The idea is simply based on the ‘survival of the fittest’ concept.
Random saplings are planted in close proximity, that is, at a distance of half a metre, so that the truly deserving ones not only survive but also emerge stronger. The concept was introduced in Japan in the eighties by Akira Miyawaki, a renowned botanist and expert in plant ecology, as a new and innovative reforestation approach. The specialist in seeds used native plant varieties and recommended an unusually dense plantation to trigger competition.
The technique has worked worldwide, irrespective of soil or agro-climatic conditions.TUDA has taken up the task of developing a park, touted as a ‘mini forest’, in Avilala panchayat abutting Tirupati, where a total of 4,200 plants, comprising 130 species, will be grown in a small area of 1.3 acres.
A similar attempt was made by the Forest Department in Vijayawada, Srikalahasti, and near Naravaripalle in the past, but this is the first time that an urban development authority has taken up the challenging task.
Native plants
“We are growing native plants such as Maredu, Bandaru, Peddamanu, Udaga, Chigara, Panasa, Adavinimma, Kanchanam, Pasupu veduru, Bandiga Gurivinda, Velaga and Bommalamarri in this park,” says TUDA Chairman Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy. Such trees with wider canopy will ensure development of an entire ecosystem, including microbes, worms and insects, reptiles and birds.
‘Miyawaki parks’
Going by its success, more such ‘Miyawaki parks’ will be developed across TUDA limits, adds Vice-Chairman S. Harikrishna, hinting at plans to create such urban forests in Tiruchanur and Srikalahasti. TUDA invested a mere ₹10 lakh towards bore-well and drip irrigation network, as the saplings were supplied free of cost by Andhra Pradesh Greening and Beautification Corporation. The existing soil was replaced with fertile top soil, coco peat, vermicompost, or cow dung, and rice husk in equal proportion.