Japanese technique helps turn barren plot verdant

BENGALURU: A 600sqm plot belonging to the railways in KR Puram has turned green in just about five months, thanks to Miyawaki, the Japanese technique of afforestation.
On September 24, 2016, 300 volunteers planted 2,000 saplings of over 50 native varieties using this technique.
Today, the saplings have grown into trees that are now 4ft to 12ft tall. Among the many varieties planted here are honge, mahogany, tabebuia rosea, huversee, jackfruit, jamun, toremati, bamboo, mango, dalichandra, Indian almond, nagalinga, atti, neem, jacaranda, sampige, gulmohar and bhunia.
Saplings planted using the Miyawaki technique grow 10 times faster than the regular ones.“A few saplings planted using the traditional way on the same plot have only grown a few inches. The Miyawaki saplings have grown 10 times faster,” said Durgesh Agrahari, head of partnerships & projects, Say Trees, an NGO. “This forest will be 30 times more dense and 50 times more diverse than a regular plantation,” he added.
Miyawaki technique is all about three years of intensive watering and weeding after planting. The result is a lush, dense, self-sustaining forest. The technique is named after Japanese botanist Dr Akira Miyawaki, whose approach was to plant seedlings of as many native canopy trees as possible. Through competition, these trees undergo a process of natural selection, ultimately leading to the formation of a diverse, natural forest.
After the first three years, the forest does not require any maintenance, in keeping with the botanist’s theory that the best forest management technique is no management at all.
“While the saplings are densely packed together, two saplings of the same type cannot be planted adjacent to each other, as then only one will survive,” explained Durgesh. Given the rigorous maintenance, the process is slightly more expensive than what’s involved in a usual plantation.
Founded by Kapil Sharma about a decade ago, Say Trees has planted over 80,000 saplings across the country. Last year alone it planted 35,000 saplings, 17,000 of which were in Bengaluru. About 15,000 trees were planted in what used to be dumpyards in Koramangala, Kalyan Nagar, Yeshwantpur and Nyandahalli.
This monsoon, the NGO hopes to raise another Miyawaki forest: 20,000 trees in a 6,000sqm plot in Bengaluru. “We must do whatever we can to reduce the impact of global warming. With trees steadily vanishing from in and around our city, we are in great need of these mini-urban forests,” said Durgesh.
COMMITTED TO GOING GREEN
We tied up with Say Trees in 2014. Since then we have planted 4,786 trees on our vacant plots. Many people thought this exercise wouldn’t be successful, but the saplings have been growing well. We are committed to going green and preserving the environment and are, at present, arranging for water and electricity required for their maintenance. Recently, our divisional railway manager visited us and said that we should work towards using all available vacant railway plots for raising these kind of plantations
Srinivasan T | senior section engineer, south western railway