SEED BALLS FOR GREENING INDIA Dont expect anything

SEED BALLS FOR GREENING INDIA

“Don’t expect anything, just make seed balls, Nature will teach you. ” -

IMAGINE FARMING WHICH INVOLVES… …no Tillage …no Fertilizer …no Pesticides …no Weeding …no Pruning …remarkably little Labour DIFFICULT? ISN’T IT?

THE NATURAL FARMER… Masanobu Fukuoka, a microbiologist from Japan, describes ‘No Cultivation’ in his book ‘One Straw Revolution’. He believes that cultivation and ploughing are soil’s biggest enemies. He accomplishes high yields by careful timing of his seeding and careful combinations of plants (polyculture). Natural Resource Management is a set of practices pertaining to maintaining natural systems integrity. ‘Natural Farming’ is the best route to move in that direction.

HOW TO MAKE SEED BALLS STEP 1: INGREDIENTS One part - dry mixed seeds Three parts - dry compost Five parts - dry red or with fungi and soil brown clay, finely microbes (plant compost, powdered and sifted not animal manure)

STEP 2: MIXING INGERDIENTS First, mix seed mixed with dry compost. Then, add clay to the above mix. Blend everything together well. Next, mix water onto the mixture while stirring. Spray just enough water to allow the mixture to stick/bind together. Take a pinch of the finished mixture and roll (in the palm of your hand) into pennysized round balls.

STEP 3: DRYING Put seed balls in the sun to dry completely for a day or two. Use used paper, cardboard, straw, etc for storage. STEP 4: SCATTERING Broadcast seed balls onto area to be revegetated. Water or wait for rain to allow seeds to germinate. A minimum application seeks a scatter density of at least 10 seed balls per square metre, to establish trigger points from which the vegetation can spread.

STEP 5: RESULT With rainfall the clay coating melts and the seeds germinate where the ball has landed. The seed balls will stay put until the seedlings have a chance to put down roots. The seed balls will absorb moisture from the ground, the dew and the rain and will sprout when conditions are right. Many seeds will grow from a single seed ball and the plant most suited to the micro-conditions of that site will prevail. BASIL SEED BALLS

1. Seed balls are simply scattered direct onto ground, and not planted. 2. They could be useful for seeding dry, thin and compacted soils. 3. For reclaiming derelict ground. 4. This method takes a fraction of the time or cost of other methods to cover large areas and is also very applicable in small areas. 5. Seed balls are particularly useful in dry and arid areas where rainfall is highly unpredictable. www. primalseeds. org

SEED BALLS PROTECT SEEDS FROM 1. Winds…which blow them away 2. 2. Birds and rodents…which eat them 3. 3. Hot sun…which bakes their vitality out 4. 4. Excessive rain…which carries them off

Bangalore seed ball campaign gets rolling … Bangalore: It just takes one seed to set the ball rolling — that's the idea behind the seed ball campaign started by a Bangalore-based NGO, Alt Tech Foundation, to clean the city's air. The seed ball campaign will enable the reforestation that we all are trying to do. The campaign was launched on June 5, World Environment Day, with corporate houses, schools and citizens eagerly participating in the programme. Indigenous varieties like neem, honge and sampige are some of the seeds chosen. SOURCE: http: //www. ibnlive. com/news/blore-seed-ball-campaign-getsrolling/12561 -3. html

TRUE SOLUTION… "When a decision is made to cope with the symptoms of a problem, it is generally assumed that the corrective measures will solve the problem itself. They seldom do. Engineers cannot seem to get this through their heads. These countermeasures are all based on too narrow a definition of what is wrong. Human measures and countermeasures proceed from limited scientific truth and judgment. A true solution can never come about in this way. "

BIBLIOGRAPHY • C: Documents and Settingsu 306014DesktopGoogle Image Result for http-- www_tve_org -images-janus-uploaded-Making. Hay. With. Clay 2_jpg. htm • http: //www. pathtofreedom. com/pathproject/gardening/seedballs. shtml • C: Documents and Settingsu 306014DesktopSEEDBALLS for greening IndiaSeed balls for greening India. htm • C: Documents and Settingsu 306014DesktopGoogle Image Result for http-westbynorthwest_org-artman-uploads-seedballs 2_jpg. htm • http: //www. ibnlive. com/news/blore-seed-ball-campaign-gets-rolling/12561 -3. html

THANK YOU ESHA AGARWAL PGPRM ROLL NO. 14