Seed balls take root in AP’s forest restoration drive

Metro India News | AMARAVATI

Andhra Pradesh is turning an unconventional conservation tool into a large-scale forest restoration campaign, with more than 2.06 crore seed balls dispersed across 20,929 hectares of degraded forest and green-cover areas as part of Deputy Chief Minister and Forest Minister Pawan Kalyan’s drive to increase the state’s green cover to 50 per cent.

The initiative has already achieved nearly 85 per cent of its targeted rollout, with the Forest Department working alongside local communities, NGOs and other government departments.

The broader target for the season is to disperse more than three crore seed balls, making the program one of the state’s largest landscape-level forest regeneration efforts. The campaign began with a symbolic push on World Environment Day, when Pawan Kalyan prepared the first seed ball at the Moolapadu Eco Park and called for greater public participation in restoring degraded forests. That initiative has since evolved into a coordinated field operation involving forest personnel and communities in villages bordering forest areas.

The seed balls are prepared using seeds of native and multipurpose tree species, with species selected according to local geography and ecological conditions. The program has been taken up extensively across Tirupati, Anantapur, Kurnool, Guntur, Rajamahendravaram, NTR and Visakhapatnam districts. Forest staff have been involved throughout the process, from preparing and transporting seed balls to coordinating their dispersal and identifying suitable regeneration zones. The initiative reflects a shift from conventional plantation-based conservation towards a combination of ecological restoration, community participation and technology-driven intervention.

Instead of limiting restoration to areas that can be reached and planted manually, drones allow the department to cover larger and more challenging landscapes. Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, who handles the Environment and Forests Ministry, has directed officials to closely monitor germination rates, survival and subsequent plant growth in the areas covered by the campaign.

With more than two crore seed balls already dispersed and the three-crore seasonal target within reach, the program represents a significant step towards the government’s 50 per cent green-cover ambition, provided the seeds successfully translate into sustained forest regeneration on the ground.