By Udbhav Bhargava
The Haryana Forest Department has employed aerial seeding technique to improve green cover in the Aravalli area of Faridabad. It is approximately 800 km in length.
WHAT IS AERIAL SEEDING?
A technique of planting in which seed balls — seeds covered with a mixture of clay, compost, char and other components, sprayed using aerial devices, including planes, helicopters or drones. These seed balls / pellets are spread by low-flying drones in a targeted area, with the coating providing the necessary weight for seeds to airdrop at a predetermined position instead of being dissuaded by the wind. These pellets germinate when there is sufficient rain, with nutrients present in them helping in the initial growth.
ADVANTAGES
Areas that are inaccessible, have steep slopes or no forest paths, this approach can be used to target areas. The seed germination and growth process is such that after it is dispersed it requires no attention — the reason seed pellets are known as the “fire and forget” way of planting. They remove the need to plug and dig holes in the soil, and do not need to be planted as they are already surrounded by water, nutrients and microorganisms. They are also covered by the clay shell against birds, bees, and rats.
WHAT KIND OF SPECIES CAN BE DISPERSED?
Those native to the region and hardy, with seeds of a suitable size for preparing seedballs, with a higher percentage of survival. Officials say it’s crucial the seeding timing is right. These will be dispersed in Faridabad using “seeding drones” developed by a startup that was incubated at IIT-Kanpur. It is equipped with a “precise delivery mechanism” for seeds of various sizes which drops from a height of 25 to 50 meters at predetermined intervals. A single drone can plant 20,000-30,000 seeds per day, officials said. Areas that are inaccessible, have steep slopes or no forest paths, this approach can be used to target areas. The seed germination and growth process is such that after it is dispersed it requires no attention — the reason seed pellets are known as the “fire and forget” way of planting. The method of plantation is being implemented on 100 acres of land during the pilot phase “to test efficacy of the seed dispersal mechanism and review the success rate”. It was implemented earlier in July, in Yamunanagar and Mahendragarh. It will also give the local community work opportunities, especially women, who can prepare the seed balls. The species to be planted in the Aravalli regions include Acacia senegal (Khairi), Ziziphus mauritiana (Beri), and Holarrhena spp (Inderjo), all of which have a greater chance of survival in these areas. Officials said grass seeds “site specific” will also be added to the mix, as they serve as good soil binders.
WHAT ARE THE SURVIVAL CHANGES?
The drones scatter 5,000 seeds per hectare. In this type of plantation, the survival rate tends to be low, less than 50%. Therefore, the point of planting such a high quantity is that we will have 1,000 trees, even though the survival rate is 20 percent.
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