Mass planting in dryland Karnataka

Sarvodaya Farms, outside Dharwad, Karnataka, is a labour of love of Geeta & Suresh, a couple deeply dedicated to creating a sustainable habitat in the countryside. This ~20-acre land comes under “scrub forest” classification, Dharwad district itself is a semi-arid place with ~1000mm avg. annual rain. Commonly found trees here are predominantly deciduous but a lot of evergreen varieties too.

At the heart of their plan is to convert the entire land into a natural forest. Their belief is that a natural forest is the best sustainable system in nature. They are mostly targeting common dryland trees of Karnataka but are also collecting species from outside the state that can survive in their area. 

In their first phase of land development, Geeta & Suresh have created a reliable infrastructure harvesting rainwater into surface and ground water systems, and just started a small nursery on the land. 

They are now fully prepared to go on a mass planting drive over the entire 20 acres.

They are seeking help from all over to source seeds and saplings in large numbers to their farm.

 

– Are you aware of sources where seeds and saplings can be sourced for planting in large numbers FoC or highly subsidized rates? 

– Are there any government schemes one can take benefit from?

– Are there any organisations that will support mass planting?

– Seed sources for trees in their region? 

Also, any advice on planting techniques and species selection will be most welcome.   

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Following link may be of some help:

Native Trees for Urban Spaces

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