Ranipet aims to plant record 50 lakh Palmyra seeds today

RANIPET: The Ranipet district administration has geared up for a world record of planting 50 lakh Palmyra seeds in five hours, according to Collector D Baskara Pandian.

Revealing this to DT Next, he said, “The exercise will be undertaken between 8 am and 1 pm on Monday in 836 locations in 288 village panchayats with the participation of slightly more than one lakh volunteers, including those drawn from the government’s 100-day work scheme.”

Asked for the reason for choosing Palmyra seeds, the Collector said, “the tree has a host of benefits which will help the public. In addition to providing locals work by distilling padaneer, the main advantage of the tree is that it can have save 2,000 litres of water. In the present scenario where easy water availability is declining the Palmyra tree once well grown can be a harbinger in this connection.”

Officials when asked said, “an abundance of Palmyra seeds was found in Timiri and Arcot blocks and hence over the last two months the foundation for the project was laid when we started moving seeds to areas which lacked the seeds.”

The project was also highlighted in the gram sabha meetings on Sunday when participants, including schoolchildren were invited to plant the seeds.

“We welcome public participation as ultimately they will be the beneficiaries of the Palmyra trees’ largesse,” Baskara Pandian noted.