SEED BALLS
A natural, cost effective solution for greening India
rameshkn@infosys.com
“Don’t expect anything, just
make seed balls, Nature will
teach you.”
- Masanobu Fukuoka -Copyright
1996 C. R. Jeavons, courtesy of
Jim Bones's Seed Balls.com
Context and motivation
Current state of affairs
 India has lost 743 sq kms of forest cover between 2005 and 2007
(Source: State of the forest report)
 Deforestation and land use change accounts for up to 20 % of
global greenhouse gas emissions, more than the entire
transportation sector!!
 Forests act as a big carbon sink. Almost 11% of India’s carbon
emission is absorbed in the forests of Himalayas, Eastern and
Western ghats, Central plains and North East.
Problem definition and solution options
 Loosing forest cover is a double whammy. We loose carbon
sinks and the depleted forest cover will invariably add to
increased carbon green house emissions. Flip it and we address
two problems. Increasing forest cover means reduced green
house gas emissions and increased carbon sinks.
Afforestation options
• Requires expertise in plant nursery
management
• Cost prohibitive
• Time consuming. High process life cycle time
Conventional
process
Seed
germination in
Nursery and
sapling care
Grow saplings
until a point
where it can be
transplanted
Seed ball
Create seed balls
Transplan
tation
Post
transplant
ation care.
Watering
etc
• Very simple. Can be done by anybody.
• Extremely cost effective. 1/100th the cost
of conventional system
• Takes just a fraction of the time as
compared to conventional system
Scatter seed balls
PROJECT PHASES
Fund
raising.
Commun
ication
campaign
awarenes
s and
branding
Mobilizatio
n of human
resources
for the
activity.
Interface
with local
forest
officials for
approvals
and
identification
of Forest land
for scattering
Seed ball
creation
Seed ball
scatterin
g
Project
closure
Fund raising options
•
•
•
•
Community participation
Government grants
Funds by corporates
Green tax!
Communication awareness and branding
The vision is to internalize that the start of monsoon
means time for seed ball scattering. It must be made an
important event in the nations calendar just like
Independence day or Republic day.
Approach
 Engage schools, communities and NGOs
 Create campaigns on National Television and media on the lines
of Jaagore!!!
Resource mobilization
Scale/Reach
Option
Small scale/Large Reach
Participation of
schools/NGOs
Small scale/Large reach
Integration into
corporate’s CSR activity
Large scale/Large reach
Participation by
Farming communities
Large scale/Small reach
Large scale aerial
scattering with support
from Govt
Comments
Farmers can create
seed balls. The cost of
seed ball making can
be paid to farmers,
which can help
supplement their
incomes
Seedball creation
Options for seed ball creation
 Engage NGOs in this space.
 A community activity in schools/communities/corporates.
 Large scale creation using mechanized rotary drums. Can
produce up to 40000 seed balls a day using this technique.
Sourcing seeds
 Local forest departments.
 Approach seed companies to contribute as part of their CSR
activity.
 Buy from seed companies.
Seedball scattering
Options for seed ball scattering
 Communities/NGOs/Schools
 Collaborate with armed forces to scatter in the typical vast
tracts of land owned by armed forces
 Scattering by local farmers.
 Aerial scattering.
Roles and Responsibilities
Stake
holders
Role
YI
Program ownership and oversight to
• Funding mobilization
• Communication and branding
• Collaboration/Liason with corporates, NGOs, communities and
Government
• Training
• Program ownership
Government
• Support in providing directives to state and local administration
• Identification of land mass in a scientific way (Satellite imagery data) for
scattering
• Providing seeds
• Participation in communication campaigns
NGOs
Training in seed ball creation. Execution of seed ball creation and scattering
Schools and
communities
Execution of seed ball creation and scattering
Corporate
Funding, integration of see ball scattering program into CSR
Go forward




Review and baseline the program plan
Identify the tracks/projects
Project staffing
Baseline program schedule
Thank You
Seed ball FAQ