Tamil Nadu: Volunteers embark on planting drive with fair success

TIRUCHY: In order to augment the population of Palmyra trees, several volunteer organisations have taken many initiatives to plant palm seeds across the state, particularly in 14 districts, including the Delta region.

The event was successful, but several of the saplings were uprooted by the people for want of the palm sprouts (Panai Kizhangu), which are a good source of income in the local market.

Green Needa, a non-governmental organisation, along with the volunteers across the state, launched a palm seed bank and plantation of one crore palm seeds along the banks of the Cauvery to boost the population of palmyra trees.

The event was almost completed, and ‘Thanneer Organisation’, an environmental group from Tiruchy, was roped in for planting the seeds in Tiruchy and the adjacent districts.

“Along with our volunteers who are mostly students in and around Tiruchy, we collected adequate stocks of palm seeds and planted them as per the schedule, and we have almost achieved the target, but the result was otherwise,” said KC Neelamegam, Executive President of Thaneer Organisation.

He said that the palm seeds do not need any maintenance after planting, as it grows naturally, and so, the volunteers, after planting the seeds in select locations, left the spot for forgoing with the target.

“Unfortunately, when we went recently to inspect those seeds, we were shocked to see more than 40 per cent of the seeds were uprooted soon after they had sprouted. The palm sprout is rich in iron, fibre, protein and minerals like calcium and magnesium, and it is considered a food supplement for aiding digestion and regulating blood sugar, and the people have uprooted them,” said Neelamegam.

He said that the palm sprouts are in high demand in the local market, but for a certain amount of money, people have destroyed the environmentally friendly trees. “We could rescue those palm seeds from birds and animals, but could not save them from humans,” he lamented further.