Kerala government will provide five-crore saplings to farmers of fruit-bearing trees as part of a project which is jointly implemented by the Agriculture, Forest, Local Self-Governments and Education departments and Kerala Agricultural University (KAU).
The first phase of the distribution of these saplings will be held on World Environment Day, i.e, June 5.
Saplings of nearly 31 fruit-bearing trees which include jackfruit, mango, pomegranate, avocado and orange will be distributed.
The second phase will commence in July as part of the Van Mahotsav and Thiruvathira Njattuvela. Both these festivities happen in the first week of July when there is a sufficient amount of rain and sunlight for the plants to grow.
These saplings will be distributed to the farmers free-of-cost and will be planted in individual plots, school compounds and tourist places.
Local bodies, Kudumbashree volunteers and MGNREGS workers will help in planting all the saplings.
Grafted, layered and tissue-cultured saplings will be distributed at 25 per cent of the cost.
Farmers who are interested in cultivating the saplings need to contact the nearest Krishi Bhavan or call the toll-free number 1800-425-1661. They can also register at the Agriculture Information Management System portal - www.aims.kerala.gov.in/subhikshakeralam.
Whereas, the Harithalayam project by the Kerala University (KU) will help to increase the greenery of the campus. The project will be launched on World Environment Day and inaugurated by the Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan.
The project is being implemented with the help of the Social Forestry Department.
As part of the project, acacia trees which have been causing environmental destruction at some places will be removed. They will be replaced with fruit-bearing and medicinal trees.
Around 45,000 saplings are being prepared for this purpose on the Karyavattom campus which is spread over 365 acres.
In addition, Kerala University is planning to have paddy cultivation in nearly 20 acres, a coconut farm with 1,000 coconut trees, a vegetable farm in five acres and a garden of rare plants collected from the Andaman Islands.
