Now I’m standing right in front of a small Miyawaki fruit forest. It was planted two years back, in June 2019. This is Sri Rajasekharan Nair. Forty years back, we worked together at the Shastra Sahitya Parishad. Both of us were and are interested in afforestation. His son is my colleague now. Sri Nair said he was interested in putting up a Miyawaki fruit forest in his plot on an experimental basis. And I have a reason for showing you this forest.
Pruning has been done fairly well here. And its effect is there to see. Here too, we planted fewer saplings than the customary ratio of four in a one-square-metre segment of land. We planted only two because we intended to have vegetable plants in between. You will see tomato plants here and there. Also, brinjal and spicate eugenia, that have fruited. With regard to trees, I wish to show you the model I have always talked about. This tree has gone up as a single trunk to a height of six or six-and-a-half feet, and then formed an umbrella-like foliage. Sri Nair has been pruning for only the past four to five months. But you can see the results. After some time, sunlight will fall on the ground. Mulching has not been done in a big way. Otherwise, we would have seen better growth. For instance, look at this jack tree. It has sprouted at least fifty branches. They cannot be retained, and should be removed as early as possible because if we allow them to grow, nothing else will survive here. Besides, they will consume all the manure. Branches up to this height are totally unnecessary.
You may consider this pruning cruel. It may look like teachers spanking their students in order to correct them. I’m not a supporter of corporal punishment at all but the jack tree has to grow as a single trunk up to a certain height. It will fruit in due course, and leaves will form at the top. Here, a plastic thread has been used to tie the sapling to the stake. If we use a plastic thread, we should remember to loosen it from time to time. Otherwise, as the trunk thickens, it may snap at this point. Or, the plastic thread will get embedded in the trunk. This guava sapling is weak. We should cut these branches and allow the main stem to grow. The mango and custard apple saplings look okay. Sir, all these branches of the watery rose apple have to be lopped off. Let them remain on the ground as mulch. Gradually, it will become manure.
This is a model of a fruit forest. We would have seen better results if there had been more crowding of plants and a thicker layer of mulch. But this is a relatively good specimen. It is also an answer to those who have doubts about creating a Miyawaki forest near the house, wonder about the use of Miyawaki forests, and worry about the returns. This is a strong branch but we have to be ruthless about cutting it. We will be able to plant other saplings in the space in between. Those of you, who have doubts about the returns from Miyawaki forests, please consider the growth rate of these plants. In ordinary circumstances, we don’t usually plant so many saplings in such a small space. The harvest from the vegetable plants here is great. You can see brinjal and lady’s finger. More of African bird’s eye chilly saplings can be planted in between. Vegetable hummingbird is one tree that dries up or rots when it is cut. But here it is flourishing despite pruning. The gooseberry tree has been pruned well too. The Portia tree is also showing good growth. This is a three-leaved caper. It has been pruned so that only a single stem stands, five feet tall. We want the leaves at the top to unfurl like a bouquet. When that happens, the other plants will get enough sunlight and, viewed from the top, this patch will look like a forest.
This is an example to show you how a Miyawaki forest can be planted to use the plot close to our house profitably, and also what happens to a Miyawaki forest after some time. Many people enquire about the present condition of the forests we had planted. This one is maintained not by us, but by Sri Nair. But it should serve to prove that if we study the basic principles of the Miyawaki Model of Afforestation, we will be able to create forests on our own.