Students on a mission to make Vellore ‘green’ through seed balls

Several students came together last Saturday at the Vellore Fort, where they prepared the ‘seed balls’. Pooling in around Rs 15,000 for the purpose, they procured 13 varieties of seeds including Subabul, Guava and Ilanthai from a private seed farm in Dindigul.

The inspiration for the group’s present initiative comes from the success of its afforestation campaign last year. In two phases, the group distributed nearly 1 lakh seed balls in the hills abutting Sathuvachari on the Bengaluru- Chennai National Highway. The youngsters were informed by the Forest department staff that most of the seeds had taken root and were growing well.

Stating that the process is simple, a teacher, who guided the students, said seeds are placed inside a ball mad of clay or mud and allowed to dry in the sun. The balls are thrown or dropped and the seeds inside them are left to germinate on their own. “We plan to place the seed balls on the hills around Vellore by hand before the Northeast Monsoon starts. We are waiting for the Vellore forest range officer to grant permission for our initiative,” a member of the group said.

It may be recalled that the Central government’s agro-aviation wing which distributed chemical coated seeds atop the hills surrounding Vellore from a single engine plane, 30 years ago, was a total failure as the gusty winds blew most seeds away from the target area.

However, if the enthusiasm shown by the students are an indicator, it may be safely assumed that their efforts towards creating a ‘green’ Vellore will not stop until they make a difference.