India’s Super Fast Agro Forest. A Model for the World

This organic agro forest with ten thousand trees developed over 15 acres in five years has become a model worth replicating.

A newly developed organic agro forest with 10000 trees in a 15 acre area in record five years by D.Murugaselvam, a realtor turned farmer in Tamil Nadu’s Namakkal district has turned into a model agro forest drawing attention from across India and around the world. The forest has trees from all over India from  Kanniyakumari to Kashmir, requiring varying climate conditions.  The temperature dips by five degrees in the forest, dropping to 15 degrees in winter and 35 degrees in summer. 

64 year old Murugaselvam’s vision is to contribute to increase the state’s forest cover from the present 23.27% to the ideal but difficult to achieve 33%. “Normally it takes twenty five to fifty years to raise a dense forest. I’ve proved we can do it in ten years. It’s already dense in five years. Now India can achieve this  if many individuals, groups and states could replicate this”, D Murugaselvam told tellmystory.in On what made this fast-tracking a success, he added “The organic manure Panchakaviyam prepared using cow-dung and urine, the dense 900 trees an acre pattern and drip irrigation have made this possible, as normally forests are left to depend only on rain water”.

 

Murugaselvam’s second aim is to turn farming lucrative to farmers. Into the fifth year, this year he has already taken fifteen lakh income which is projected to double next year. Called M D Seyyon Organic Farm, he has raised 20 varieties of trees including Mahogany, Red Sanders, Rudrakshan, Thandrika and 20 other varieties of medicinal  plants, some as intercrop including pepper, clove, cardamom and fig. “We’ve disproved the common belief that a farmer can’t make money. Actually it can be lucrative” says a proud Murugaselvam. Efforts are also underway to earn carbon credits for the oxygen the forest generates., 

Murugaselvam had an income of fifteen lakh from the agro forest in the fifth year. Projected to double next year Murugaselvam wants to prove that farming can be lucrative.

 

The M D Seyyon Organic Farm has also turned into a fertile ground for research including Ph D scholars from across India. The Tamil Nadu government has already honoured him with  Tree Warrior certificate for his path-breaking agro forestry. Kerala and Karnataka governments have awarded him for his contribution to medicine. He has also obtained the union government’s Quality Control Industry (QCI) certification and the state government’s seed certification. He has also requested TOFI (Trees Outside Forests in India) to consider his agro forest as a model worth replicating. On what gives him joy in this pursuit, Murugaselvam says “We are giving a new agro technology to the world and I am happy to be part of it”.
 
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This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. Sowmiarajan

    Super story in world

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