March 2020
Dear Small Group Farmers Participants, Seasons Greetings! It gives us great joy in reaching you all through TIST Chezhumai Newsletter. Own efforts will fetch you more You all know that from June we would be getting rain and to plant trees during that season, we need to prepare seedlings now. Do not try to buy seedlings, that will be much costly and you will have to spend money on transport too. Instead, prepare your own seedlings. You can prepare high quality seedlings at your own farm, near your house. Get in touch with your TIST trainer during Node meetings, they will help you prepare high quality seedlings with limited resource and you can prepare your interest tree species seedlings.
Chezhumai
TIST Tree Planting India Pvt. Ltd Flat A, Plot 69, 26th Street, Sankar Nagar, Pammal, Chennai 600075. Mobile : 9840299822 Email: josephrexontist@gmail.com Skype: a.joseph.rexon Web: www.tist.org The International Small Group & Tree Planting Program TIST - Planting Trees and Improving Agriculture for Better Lives.
Tiruvallur District We the participants of Karpagammal Small Group following the best practice of TIST at Agoor Village, Thiruthani Taluk, Tiruvallur District. During the year 2014, due to shortage in farm labour we were not able to practice farming in our 17 acre land and at that time we learnt about TIST system and received 9,000 free seedlings from TIST and planted in our 17 acre land. We practiced several types of intercrops in between the trees like groundnut, sesame, blackgram and we got good income out of it. Also, we are caring all the tree trees in good condition. We are also participating in TIST Node meetings and training programs and with the help of the learnings from TIST we are caring the trees in condition. We had challenge in opening bank account on our small group name to receive tree stipend from TIST, but now we have opened an account and received Rs.102,776/-, our entire pending stipend amount from TIST. We are very happy that we received this amount at a right time. Our heartfelt thanks to TIST for their good work .
Ariyalur District I belong to Aadhikudikadu Village, Sendurai Taluk, Ariyalur District. I participated in the first TIST meeting at our village in the year 2019 and in the meeting learnt from TIST employees how to receive free seedlings and how to care the trees after planting. Last November I received 500 free teak seedlings from TIST and planted all the seedlings in 1.5 acres land. And in the same land as intercrop I have planed drumstick plants too. TIST employees are visiting my tree grove and providing good trainings and ideas to care the trees, also, TIST employees are visiting my tree grove twice in a month. Currently, we do not have enough farm labourers and we have very less water and with learnings from TIST trainings I have developed a teak tree grove with limited water. I will tell this good news to other farmers. Very soon there will be many farmers following this best practice in our village and I will join with them and farm a small group.
Tree care during summer Care the trees during peak summer using used water bottles and cool drinks bottles. Make a small hole at the bottom of the bottle and close the hole with a thick cotton thread. One end of the thread should protrude outside the bottle, so that, when the bottle is filled with water, water comes out through the cotton thread drop by drop. This bottle should be carefully half buried in the ground close to the root, so that the water drops reaches the root. Once the bottle is filled with water, water goes to root of the tree drop by drop through the thick cotton thread. One bottle of water goes to the root for 2-3 days. This is an economical drip irrigation system through which the trees can be cared well during peak summer with little available water. As we are approaching the dry summer season, trying this drip irrigation system will help a lot.