Telangana to use drones to drop seeds for afforestation

The Telangana government in partnership with Marut Drones, a city-based startup, is set to launch a drone-based afforestation project named 'Hara Bahara', under which seed balls will be dropped in barren and empty forest lands to turn them into lush green abode of trees.

Fifty lakh trees will be planted in about 12,000 hectares of land in forests across the state under the project, an official release said on Monday.

Minister for IT and Industries KT Rama Rao unveiled 'Seedcopter Drone' by Marut Drones and launched poster campaign for 'Hara Bahara'.

Seedcopter, an aerial seeding solution for rapid and scalable reforestation, will bring community, science, and technology together for an inclusive, sustainable, and long-lasting solution, the release said.

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This project uses drones to disperse seed balls over thin, barren, and empty forest lands to turn them into lush green abode of trees. The process begins with a field survey and mapping of the terrain area to understand the ecosystem and demarcate the areas needing urgent attention. The seed balls are prepared by the local women and welfare communities, which are dispersed via drones in the targeted areas. Further, the area is continuously monitored to track the growth of plants sown, according to the release.

"Forests are essential to maintain a clean and habitable environment for human life, and emerging technologies have potential to support the afforestation efforts. Being already at the forefront of using drones for new use-cases, we are initiating Hara Bahara to plant seeds increase the forest areas across all the districts of the state," Rama Rao said.