Timing matters: Why planting trees in April is unwise & thumb rules for successful plantation drives

Tree plantation holds a significant place in Indian culture, with a long tradition and history. The famous practice of ‘panchvati’ involves planting trees around houses or in villages to meet subsistence needs. Over the years, many kings, such as Ashoka, planted trees along roadsides, while the Mughals developed gardens across various parts of India. 

The timing of plantation drives is key for their success. 

In independent India, official tree plantation initiatives began with the celebration of Van Mahotsav in 1950, launched by KM Munshi, the then Union Minister of Agriculture and Food. But Van Mahotsav Day dates back to July 1947, organised by the Punjabi botanist, MS Randhawa. The festival is celebrated by planting tree saplings from the 1st to the 7th of July every year during the rainy season.

But some plantation initiatives show poor planning, especially in regards to timing. On April 1, 2024, while browsing Twitter and Facebook, we came across numerous individuals advocating for a different approach to All Fools’ Day: “Instead of making April fool, plant a tree to make April cool.”

As April approaches, the temptation to plant trees may seem like a natural impulse. In fact, planting trees in April, when the sun is scorching, seems impractical. This notion of planting during the offseason, when climatic and soil conditions are unsuitable, appears misguided. 

Instead of rushing into planting trees amid the April heat, let’s pause and reconsider our approach. Imagine April as a time for preparation, a period where we lay the groundwork for future growth. By focusing on nurturing seeds in controlled environments, we set the stage for success. 

These seeds, carefully tended to throughout April, will be ready to thrive when the time is right. The journey of these seeds begins in the nurturing embrace of nursery bags, where they receive the care and attention needed to sprout and thrive. For the next three months, these seeds are tended to with utmost diligence, providing them with optimal conditions for growth. It's a period of anticipation, where each seed holds the promise of a lush forest yet to come. 

As the months pass and the monsoon season approaches, the excitement builds. With the rains blessing the land, communities come together to transplant these young seedlings into the earth, where they will take root and flourish. 

India has witnessed numerous states competing for world records in tree planting, such as Uttar Pradesh, which planted 250 million saplings in a day, later aiming for 400 million. Similarly, Madhya Pradesh planted 60 million in 2017, and states like Telangana and Andhra Pradesh also achieved their tree planting targets. 

Tree planting is considered the easiest and cheapest solution to mitigate climate change. However, its potential drawbacks need to be scientifically assessed.  

The ongoing tree plantation initiatives in our nation signify an opportunity for growth and improvement, with Uttar Pradesh taking a leading role in this endeavor. As the third-largest state in the country, Uttar Pradesh covers a total geographic area of 240,928 square kilometres, roughly 7.3 per cent of the country's total land area. Despite being one of the most populous states in India, it has a relatively small forest area, approximately 14,679 square kilometres or 6.09 per cent in 2017. Notably, open forests contributed more than half to the total forest area. The total agricultural or cultivatable land in Uttar Pradesh amounts to 24,170,403 hectares. 

Between 2017 and 2023, Uttar Pradesh launched a major tree planting campaign, planting 1.369 billion saplings, with 350 million trees planted in 2023 alone. This initiative, known as Vriksharopan Janandolan or the Mega Tree Plantation Drive, aimed to enhance the state’s green cover, reportedly increasing it by over 9 per cent in six years. 

The state actively participated in an annual tree planting endeavour, aspiring to cover a third of its total land area with forest by 2030. Saplings were strategically planted across farms, forests, schools, highways and riverbanks, contributing to ambitious greening efforts. 

An area qualifies as a forest if it has a tree canopy density exceeding 10 per cent and spans over one hectare, according to the Forest Survey of India (FSI). Achieving a more than 10 per cent tree cover requires planting 150-1,500 trees per hectare, depending on factors like tree age, size, spacing and forest type.

To understand the massiveness of various tree plantation drives, following two scenarios with respect to Uttar Pradesh states are considered:

Scenario 1: With 1.369 billion tree saplings planted, assuming a minimum of 250 trees per hectare with a 50 per cent survival rate, approximately 2,738,000 hectares have been planted.

Scenario 2: Alternatively, planting 500 trees per hectare would cover the same area with approximately 1,369,000 hectares to be planted, factoring in a 50 per cent mortality rate.

By these scenarios, Uttar Pradesh has increased its tree cover by 2,738,000 hectares (250 trees per hectare) or 1,369,000 hectares (500 trees per hectare) with a 50 per cent mortality rate. Given that the state's total forest area in 2017 was 22,121 square kilometres or 2,212,100 hectares, massive plantation drives could increase forest area to 3,581,100 to 4,950,100 hectares. 

Remarkably, even with a 50 per cent mortality rate, planting 1.398 billion trees would enhance tree cover to 14.86 per cent (Scenario 1) to 20.54 per cent (Scenario 2). Even with a 90 per cent mortality rate, the tree cover would still increase by 11.45 per cent. 

Ultimately, the state has achieved a tree cover of 9.23 per cent of its geographical area through this monumental plantation initiative. This scenario is similar to other states of India, who entered massive plantation drives.

Imagine annual tree plantations carried out by various state forest departments, private institutions, NGOs, and government institutions, becoming a trend. Sarcastically, one could argue that we’ve planted trees over two to three times the current Earth’s area in the last couple of decades. 

Besides, many environmentalists have criticised such plantation drives, focusing on the quality of planting material, choice of species, scientific techniques in planting (pit size, potting mixture, irrigation) and aftercare (support, irrigation and protection). 

During mass planting, trees are often planted in degraded areas, roadsides, canal sides, railways, community lands and open forest areas. In many instances, natural grasslands or rangelands are rehabilitated using unwanted tree species, disrupting the natural balance of ecosystems.

Tree planting at ICAR-NIASM, Baramati, Pune (MS). Photo: Author provided

Recently, the NITI Aayog launched the Greening and Restoration of Wasteland with Agroforestry (GROW) report to underscore the potential for rehabilitating wastelands through agroforestry. This initiative aims to restore 260 million hectares of degraded land, creating additional carbon sinks of 2.5-3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2030. Under such scenarios, we must act wisely to limit global temperature rise and achieve agreements like the Paris Agreement or government initiatives like Net Zero by 2070. 

When developing a tree-planting programme, it's crucial to consider several factors, including prioritising native species over fast-growing exotic ones, managing tree planting for carbon projects to ensure effective carbon credit claims, avoiding rushed planting in unsuitable environments to prevent tree loss, acknowledging the disruption to natural ecosystems in grasslands, preventing the accumulation of flammable material by including people and animals in planting schemes, assessing potential disruptions to water cycles, and recognizing that tree plantations may not match the landscape value of natural grasslands.

The Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry has published valuable guidelines advocating for ‘Right Tree for Right Place and Right Purpose’, offering thumb rules such as selecting the best seeds or quality plants, diversifying species, understanding ecosystem landscapes, rebuilding multipurpose landscapes, involving the local community and employing a top-down approach. In essence, it’s time to shift focus from mere tree planting to strategic tree parenting.

Sangram B Chavan, ARS is senior scientist (forestry / agroforestry), ICAR-National Institute of Abiotic Stress Management. AR Uthappa is scientist (agroforestry), ICAR-Central Coastal Agricultural Research Institute, Goa.

Views expressed are the author’s own and don’t necessarily reflect those of Down To Earth

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