BENGALURU: Members of an NGO planted 6,000 saplings in Hosur on Sunday using a Japanese technique that makes saplings grow at a rapid rate.
The saplings were planted at the Ashok Leyland campus by around 400 volunteers in under five hours using the Miyawaki technique, in which trees grow 10 times faster than normal trees. In September 2016, Express had reported that SayTrees had used the same technique to plant 2,000 saplings near K R Puram Railway station. This is the second time SayTrees has used this technique and also happens to be the highest number of saplings they have planted in a day.
The 2,000 saplings planted earlier have recorded a stunning growth rate, according to Durgesh Agrahari, head of partnerships and projects at SayTrees Environmental Trust. He said, “We were amazed to see that in five months the saplings had grown from 2-3 feet to 6-8 feet.” The trees are being maintained by the trust and only treated sewage water is used to water them. In addition, such forests become self-sustainable in two years, as opposed to the six years it takes for naturally grown forests.
Saplings of 48 species of trees were planted, including neem, banyan, peepal, jamun, mango, guava, sandalwood and gooseberry. The soil was tested and a microclimate was created by mixing it with rice husk, coconut powder and manure.
SayTrees conducts several tree-planting initiatives during the monsoon across the country. In 2016, they planted a total of 35,000 saplings between June and September, of which 17,304 were in Bengaluru itself. The trust has finalised a plan to plant 50,000 saplings at Chintamani in Kolar district around July. The saplings for this initiative are being raised. A consulting firm, Afforestt, is making the Miyawaki technique popular in the country.