Around 1,000 palmyrah seeds planted in Tiruchy

TIRUCHY: A group of social activists planted 1,000 palmyrah seeds along the waterbodies across the district in Tiruchy on Tuesday.

Activists from Makkal Sakthi Iyakkam, Thanneer Organisation, Kanmalai Trust, Agni Siragugal, who assembled on the banks of Uyyankondan River in Tiruchy around 7 am on Tuesday and started planting the palmyrah seeds.

Speaking on the occasion, Amirtham Social Service Organisation member P Vijayakumar said, the seeds have been planted along Uyyankondan bank to Kulumayee Amman Temple. “There are as many as 34 varieties of palm trees in Tamil Nadu, especially in Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Virudhunagar, Ramanathapuram and Kanniyakumari districts. There were over 8 crore trees in these districts,” Vijayakumar said.

He said, since there was no proper maintenance, the trees had withered and it is time to revive them as it would help prevent soil erosion. So, it would be apt to plant them along the waterbodies.

He said, apart from the usual help, there are several value-added products that could be made from the tree, which would be beneficial to farmers by growing this tree. These trees would easily grow even in the dry areas, they added.