Recent rain has come as a blessing for proper growth of the saplings

The Forest Department has planted a large number of saplings in the Reserve Forest area in M.R. Palayam on the Tiruchi-Chennai National Highway near Tiruchi and the recent rain has come as a blessing for proper growth of the saplings.
As many as 25,000 saplings have been planted and all of them have survived indicating the timely planting and proper nurturing of the saplings. The saplings were got from a nursery unit at Edhumalai and were planted in August and September this year. “We had to take extra care during the initial period and separate pits were set up for each sapling,” says Forest Department sources.
Application of adequate bio-manure was taken up in the initial phase for growth of root of the saplings till the onset of the North-East monsoon. The bio manure, among other things, included neem cake and ground nut oil cake. The saplings mainly included shade-giving species such as ‘aavi’, ‘pungan’ and neem.
After a lull in the monsoon, weeds are bound to pose a menace. “We have been keeping a close monitoring of each and every sapling and we will water it during the summer,” the source said.

Source : The Hindu