Revitalization of Rivers in India Draft Policy - Isha Guru Jaggi Vasudev

Revitalization of Rivers In India
Draft Policy Recommendation
CREATING INFRASTRUCTURE FOR LARGE-SCALE AVAILABILITY
OF SAPLINGS
For 1000 kilometers of river length, assuming 1 kilometer-wide
fruit tree belt on 60% of river length (based on the situation in Madhya
Pradesh), the total number of fruit saplings (quality planting material -
(QPM)) required is estimated to be 12 crore considering 400 plants per
acre including allowance for mortality. If fruit tree saplings are raised by
grafting, the number of saplings that can be grown in 4 years is roughly
15,000 saplings/acre. About 7500 acres of land will be required merely
to raise these saplings. Under forestry plantation, the total number of
quality planting material required per stretch of 1000 kilometers of river
is estimated to be 8 crore, including multipurpose trees to be planted
in farmland. To produce the required QPM, roughly 400 acres of land
area with water facility will be required. The capacity of nurseries in the
state may need to be strengthened. It is important to develop sufficient
infrastructure to produce QPM by organic methods. This will be a critical
element for successful implementation of the project. Unlike the
horticulture nursery which requires a three-year period for producing
sapling by grafting/layering, most of the seedlings of forestry species can
be deployed in a year’s time.
The actual land required for setting up additional nurseries to produce
Quality Planting Material would depend on the existing sapling production
capability in the state, and will also depend on the actual scale of riverside
plantation achieved on a year on year basis. One would need to identify
agro-climatic regions within the state, preferably along the river line, and
promote commercially viable nurseries run by village communities as a
livelihood initiative for women and women’s SHGs. The availability of raw
material, at low costs will be a major criterion for selection of these areas.
The production of QPM can be in three phases. In phase 1 right at
the beginning of the program, all saplings will have to be purchased from
accredited suppliers of QPM. The three years of phase 1 can be used to
identify and begin tree nurseries in clusters of villages in the same agro-
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