On a mission to grow 1 crore Palmyra trees

With several calls by experts and researchers to safeguard palmyra trees (borassus flabellifer) in order to protect our environment having fallen on deaf ears, a movement by youngsters has taken up the Himalayan task of planting one crore trees, highlighting its revenue factor. 

“Our forefathers called palmyra trees Kalpavrik sha, which literally means tree of boons. In fact, no part of palmyra tree goes to waste. During its flowering season, we get padhaneer from panampalai and its by-products include panai vellam and panankarkandu among others. At the next stage, you get nungu. If left untouched, it will become panankaai and panam pazham, which are healthy consumables. When the seeds are sown, it yields panam seembu and panang kizhangu, which can also be consumed. 

And a variety of crafts can be made from palm leaves which can the best alternative to plastic. Combining all of them, we can say that a palmyra tree will yield Rs 25 lakh in its lifetime which is usually 100 years,” says Ragunatha Boopathy, an IT professional and the brain behind the project. Panaigal Kodi is an initiative to make people realise the importance of palm trees for our livelihood as well as the environment. 

“According to the latest survey by Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Thanjavur, there are 5 crore palm trees, though the actual number could be lesser due to a lot of factors. By planting one crore palm trees and nurturing them, we want to raise awareness among people to safeguard the existing trees and reap its economic benefits. It is easy to plant one crore trees in the ground, but our attempt is to plant them in people’s minds. 

We want to create awareness at the individual level. We don’t want it to be a mere photo project,” says Ragunatha Boopathy. To achieve its target, Panaigal Kodi has joined hands with youth groups across the state such as Ilaya Thalaimurai, May 17 Iyakkam, Pasumai Gramam and Makkal Pathai and will be conducting meetings in different districts beginning from Chennai on April 9. 

Certain groups such as Pudhiya Bhoomi and Solai Kuzhu have taken up the responsibility for a few villages in Cumbum and other districts. Volunteers who have expressed to be part of the project on WhatsApp and Facebook can participate at the meets to get their doubts cleared and get trained to identify suitable spots in their respective areas, seek necessary approvals from respective village heads, collect and distribute seeds, plant and nurture them. “In fact, palm trees don’t require any kind of safety measures. They can grow on very little water and animals don’t harm them. The only threat to young palm trees is us, humans,” smiles Ragunatha Boopathy. 

“Seeds will become available in a month or two. Once sown, they just need three months of protection and after than the trees will take care of themselves. The training is to instil commitment in volunteers. 

Over 4,000 have expressed interest to volunteer for the project on WhatsApp, though we will come to know the actual numbers when we meet them. Women volunteers will be trained in making palm leaf handicrafts. We also have plans to recognise individuals and groups for doing their job right,” he adds. 

Panaigal Kodi wants to involve schoolchildren too in the project for a reason. “It usually takes 13 years for a palm tree to mature and flower. That’s one of the reasons why palm trees are not seen as a viable source of revenue. But if we grow palm trees now, it will benefit many generations to come. So, it is necessary that they know about the need for such a project. They should work like service engineers to protect the trees in future,” says Ragunatha Boopathy. He says lack of awareness has led to wiping out of palm trees from the state. 

“Our water bodies used to be dotted with palm, karuvelam (not to be confused with seemai karuvelam ) and marudham trees. The roots of these trees have the capacity to absorb the salinity and purify the water. Also, they serve as the natural rainwater harvesting system and help drain water into the ground as the landscape of Tamil Nadu in general is very hard on surface. We have chosen palm trees for the project because there is a huge market for its by-products too,” he says. With palmyra having been recognised as the state tree way back in 1978, isn’t it the government’s responsibility to come up with strategies to protect them? 

“There is a cooperative society, which used to give licences to make toddy earlier. With the ban on toddy in Tamil Nadu, now the society can do much more. And the government’s steps to popularise palm leaf products should be done in a better way. Even we have plans to approach the society to seek help for our project,” says Ragunatha Boopathy. 

Though working as software developer in Chennai, the ultimate dream of Ragunatha Boopathy is to raise a cattle farm with at least 1,000 cows in his hometown Mangalampalayam near Tarapuram in Tirupur district. Thanks to his unquenchable thirst to learn how people lived an eco-friendly life before invasions led him to dig into the past. 

“Organic farming expert G Nammalvar would say that our actual paddy crops grew up to 6 ft. Slowly, they were replaced by short crops and when it was attacked by pests, chemicals like potassium and phosphorous were introduced. We were made to forget that soil can replenish its minerals by itself. I wish we regained our traditional knowledge of agriculture and tapped its potential completely for a sustainable lifestyle,” says Ragunatha Boopathy.