Scribd
Upload
302 views2 pages

Sapling 2 Tree in Just 1L of Water: The Technique

Sundaram Verma developed a technique for planting saplings using only 1 liter of water by controlling factors that cause soil moisture loss. His method involves deep plowing before and after monsoons to facilitate water percolation and weed removal. Saplings are planted in small beds 30cm below the soil surface and covered, then watered once with 1 liter. This technique has resulted in 80-90% survival rates of saplings using just 1 liter of water through controlling evaporation and tapping moisture from deep soil layers. Verma has been recognized for his dry land afforestation and water conservation work.

Uploaded by

rishabh dev
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
302 views2 pages

Sapling 2 Tree in Just 1L of Water: The Technique

Sundaram Verma developed a technique for planting saplings using only 1 liter of water by controlling factors that cause soil moisture loss. His method involves deep plowing before and after monsoons to facilitate water percolation and weed removal. Saplings are planted in small beds 30cm below the soil surface and covered, then watered once with 1 liter. This technique has resulted in 80-90% survival rates of saplings using just 1 liter of water through controlling evaporation and tapping moisture from deep soil layers. Verma has been recognized for his dry land afforestation and water conservation work.

Uploaded by

rishabh dev
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Sapling 2 Tree in just 1L of water

Yes, you read it right. This unrealistic idea has been brought to reality by Mr. Sundaram
Verma, who lives in Danta village, 50 km from Sikar district in Rajasthan which has extreme
climatic conditions and depleted rainfall pattern (25 to 50cm per year). He has always been
inclined towards science and systematic agriculture practices. He uses to attend various
training programs at agriculture universities and research stations to learn about the new
processes and practices in agriculture. In a training program at Indian Agricultural Research
Institute (Delhi), he learned about the role of the capillary movement of water in causing loss
of subsurface water through evaporation and the effect of weeds in loss of soil moisture.
Results from experiments (that he performed on his farm) made him realize that below a
depth of 30cm, the soil has sufficient moisture for the survival of the plants provided there is
breaking up of the capillary movement, and there is control of weed growth. Also, deeper
penetrating roots of transplanted seedlings may facilitate tapping sufficient moisture from the
deep soil.
The Technique
Steps for planting Saplings with only one litre of water:
 Field/ Site selection is done before the monsoon and it is levelled to prevent rain water
runoff.
 15 days after the first rain, carry out one or two deep ploughings to facilitate percolation
of water and removal of weeds.
 10-15 days before the last rain deep plough or dig.
 As soon as rains end, make a small bed about one foot deep in the centre of the field.
Bring healthy saplings about a Year old and one foot high from the nursery and put them
in the previously prepared deep bed. (Water the saplings adequately for 1-2 days before
planting them in the field.)
 Plant the sapling in the pit after removing polyethylene bag in such a way that all the
roots remain in the soil at 20-30 cm below the surface. Cover the soil up to about 5-10 cm
and leave the top space of about 10-15 cm empty for watering. The entire operation, from
digging the pit to planting seedlings, should be finished in a few minutes so as to
minimize the moisture loss.
 Immediately water the seedlings with about one litre of water once and leave the seedling
to grow on its own without any additional water or any other input except weeding.

This method of dry land forestry has resulted in 80-90% survival rate of saplings with just 1L
of water.
Apart from dry land afforestation, Sundaram Verma has been actively involved in water
conservation for farming practices. He has gained recognition for his work at various forums
at regional, state and National level by various bodies.

You might also like