On 1st October 2022, Telangana Government launched the first national aerial seed campaign using a drone.
What is a Campaign?
A campaign is a well-organized initiative taken on a large scale for a general or social cause. Campaigns generally involve a number of people working for a common cause and have the same perspective for a problem.
What is the Hara Bhara Campaign?
The Hara-Bhara scheme was recently launched in the state of Telangana. The program was inaugurated by actor Rana Dugubati and focused on the reforestation of the strange land of the state, where a drone-like gadget will do plantation. This process is also called the aerial seeding method, where the air is used as a medium for sowing seeds.
Targets
- To do reforestation in the bizarre and rough land of the state.
- To plant one billion trees drones by 2030 in India.
- To cover all the barren, thin. empty forests of India and convert them into lush green Valleys
Gadgets to be Used
The aerial seeding technology uses a drone called a seedcopter, a device developed by Marut Drones. It is an affordable and convenient solution for rapid and scalable reforestation.
Process of Aerial Seeding
The process of aerial seeding is done in the following steps:
- It involves spreading seeds on a piece of land by using air transports, such as planes, helicopters, and drones.
- Seeds to be spread are covered and mixed with the required composition of humus, day, compost, char, nutrients, etc.
- Seeds are selected keeping the topography and geography of the area in mind. Only those species are chosen which are native and appropriate to the particular environment.
- The shape and weight of the seed are maintained. Generally, the seed is converted to the shape of seed balls to ease the process.
- The weight of these seed balls is maintained enough so that these seed balls don’t drift along with winds and other forces.
- A particular area is targeted by low-flying drones or helicopters.
- These laid seeds then wait for rainfall.
- Once there is enough rain, the seed sprouts.
- The nutrients and compost present in the seed ball help the sprout in its initial growth.
Advantages of Aerial Seeding
Aerial seeding is advantageous in the following ways:
- Low cost: The total cost of afforestation reduces in Aerial Seeding as only one device is required for the plantation activity.
- No extra care is required: Seeds are chosen according to topography. So no extra care is required for saplings.
- Time-saving: Aerial seeding is time-saving as the speed of air devices is way too fast compared to human labor.
- Maintain ecological balance: Afforestation activity will maintain the earth’s ecological balance.
- No plowing required: As seeds are covered with soil and nutrients around them. Plowing of the field isn’t required.
Disadvantages of Aerial Seeding
Following are the drawbacks of Aerial Seeding:
- Uncontrolled spread of seeds: The seeds can grow in unallocated locations. And there’s a chance of seeds losing their path while airdropping.
- Weed competition: The saplings that will come out of the seeds can face competition for water and other nutrients with weeds and grasses already present in that area.
- Unsurity about pests: There’s a chance of seeds getting eaten or ruined by the particular pests of the region.
- Other similar government initiatives: The Government of India has taken many initiatives to preserve existing forests and implement afforestation. The three major steps taken by the government in the process are as follows.
National Afforestation Programme (NAP) Scheme
The role of NAP is to implement the afforestation of degraded forests.
National Mission for a Green India (GIM)
The aim of the GIM is to improve the quality of the soil. It also empowers to increase forest area of India.
Forest Fire Prevention and Management Scheme (FFPM)
The scheme guards the steps to prevent forest fires in Indian forests. Also, it consists of the steps to fight the after-effects of a forest fire.
Afforestation Model Under NAP
The National Afforestation Program has the following seven models of afforestation in India:
- Soil and moisture conservation
- Micro planning
- Bio-Fencing
- Entry point activity
- Overheads
- Awareness-raising
- Maintenance of plantation
A Way Forward
India has a total forest area of around 22%. According to researchers, the forest area required to meet the country’s needs is 33%. Afforestation activity should be done on a large scale to help the Indian government achieve the goal of 33% of forest area. Forests are the source of expensive resources such as animals, wood, Timber, plants, fossils, oil, medicines, etc. Each human should understand his responsibility towards the forest and take individual efforts to conserve them.