Have you met or heard about the Mango Seed Man? If you haven’t, it’s time you do.
The man, a motivational and business coach, is on a mission to grow mango trees, not by dozens or hundreds, but by crores.
Meet Jasmit Singh Arora, aka Mango Seed Man or Mr Guthli (seed).
Concerned about nature and the fast pace of vanishing mango trees, the businessman has taken up the cudgels to save the earth, restore biodiversity and plant more mango trees.
His target of planting 400 crore trees is nothing short of a Herculean task.
Mr Arora is germinating the seeds in Amtala. He explains that the germination rate of mango seeds is very slow. Out of 100 seeds, only 10-odd plants survive. In the last 40-50 years, no efforts have been made to sow mango trees. They are only cutting trees.
“The seeds we are getting are mostly from older trees and so the germination rate of these seeds is very slow. We are germinating the seeds and then we are grafting the plants with local breeds, so that the trees can bear fruits in 5-6 years. The good news is that in India, we have 80 per cent of the land suitable for growing mango trees,” said Mr Arora.
The Mango Seed Man is on track as he receives around 100 parcels of seeds everyday. His phone is always busy with people calling him to know how they can ship him the mango seeds.
Mr Arora narrates how the women from Rajkot, Gujarat have formed a cooperative to collect seeds and send them to him. He says Rajkot women have sent him more than 7500 seeds. Mr Arora says he has received more than 3.5 lakh mango seeds within a month. Many schools from different parts of India are sending him seeds. Recently, he was handed over seeds by old-age home women, from the mangoes they get as donations from people.
“We have to plant more mango trees, for which we need more seeds. More trees mean better Co2-O2 balance, more shade, less wastage. More fruits would mean more earnings for the mango farmers,” said Mr Arora.
The business coach knows that he has to keep the farmers invested in the drive. “If the farmer has a volume of mangoes with him, he can demand a price. If Thailand, being a small nation, can have a higher export of mangoes than India, we too can make money by exporting the king of fruits,” adds the campaigner.
There are counties, which have 10,700 trees per person. The world average is 422 trees per person. In India, it is 28 trees per person, he points out.
In the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) India stands 176 out of 180 nations.
This will also restore biodiversity. Due to excessive use of chemical fertilizers, the earthworms have vanished. These earthworms used to dig holes in the earth up to 3 inch-3 metre, which help in the rainwater seep inside the earth. They create a natural capillary action. But now, due to the absence of these worms, the rainwater gets washed away, leading to floods.
Octopus task
Finances are of his own and some help from his admirers