Nearly Two Lakh Tree Saplings Will Be Planted In Thanjavur Fields Under Sustainable Green Cover Project
Update: 2021-12-02 12:43 IST
Agriculture department officials inspecting the tree saplings meant for disbursal to farmers, at a nursery of the Forest department in Thanjavur
Under phase I of the Tamil Nadu Mission on Sustainable Green Cover on Farmlands in the district, nearly two lakh high-value tree saplings would be planted. The project is being conducted through the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture and the sub-mission of Agro Forestry, which was introduced by Chief Minister MK Stalin previous month.
According to an Agriculture Department official, when a willing farmer chooses to plant saplings on the bunds of his field, he or she will be provided a total of 50 saplings per acre, provided for free. If the farmer wished to plant the saplings in his own field, he will be provided 160 saplings per acre. The interested farmer must enroll on the Uzhavan app within the benefit registration section, supplying information such as survey number and Aadhaar number, among other things. An official would check the field where such saplings would indeed be grown and give a permit to the farmer to gather the saplings from the Forest Department's nurseries.
As per officials, a maximum of 2,02,800 seedlings have been allocated for the first phase in Thanjavur district, with 52 percent of the target already met in terms of giving directives to farmers to gather the saplings.
The program includes information on 27 different tree species, including sandalwood, red sandal, teak, Pterocarpus marsupium (Vengai), neem, Melia dubia (Malai Vembu), and Pongame oil tree (pungai). Consequently, in the first phase, just five species will be offered in the Thanjavur district. Teak saplings are accessible in the greatest quantity (1,75,600). From the second year following planting, the government will provide Rs 7 per tree every year for three years.