Farmer from Amritsar shares experience of growing avocados at home for Indians

Avocados are rich in nutrients, but buying the fruit can be expensive. Farmer Harmanpreet Singh claims that one can grow their own tree at home from just one seed with patience.

For over ten years, Harmanpreet helped establish avocado cultivation enterprises in countries such as Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Kenya. After returning to Amritsar, he wanted more Indians to enjoy this fruit, which they had not previously considered for cultivation.

He notes that an avocado tree can bear fruit for almost 50 years, which convinced him of the value of presenting this plant to people, as it requires little effort but yields fruit for decades.

The process begins with planting a seed taken from a ripe avocado. It should be planted in a mixture of soil, coconut fiber, and compost, ensuring the top part of the seed remains above the soil surface to prevent rot.

The container needs to be placed in a warm spot where the temperature stays above 25 degrees Celsius. Watering should be moderate, and vermicompost should be added over the next twenty days while the seed slowly prepares to sprout.

When the stem reaches about 15 centimeters, it must be transplanted into a larger pot. A sunny terrace will suffice for further growth into a healthy avocado plant.

It is important to avoid excess water; the soil should remain moist but not waterlogged. If the leaves start to yellow, it is a sign that the plant has received too much water.

After 60–90 days in a large pot, when the stem is the thickness of a pencil, it should be grafted onto a healthy mother plant to stimulate better growth and increase yield.

Harmanpreet points out that avocados naturally contain Persin—a fungicidal toxin that helps repel many pests and birds, thus reducing dependence on chemical fertilizers.

According to Harmanpreet, if the plant is grown independently, it will yield two kilograms of fruit in the first two years, and by the tenth year, it can produce up to 1.5 quintals annually. Thus, one seed can provide benefits for decades.

www.aajtak.inAugust 5, 11:09

Leopard leaves Kuno Cross-National Park, causing concern among villagers

In the Soiklan area of Shopur city, people are currently discussing not politicians or movie stars, but a leopard. This predator was released into Kuno National Park several years ago with high hopes. Now, however, it has left the forest boundaries and is found in the fields of the villages. For the past three days, villagers have been closely monitoring its movements.

The incident occurred in the village of Gurunauda, where people have noticed a leopard in the fields over the last three to four days. Sometimes it runs between fences, sometimes strolls near the edge of crops, and sometimes disappears into distant bushes. Those who saw it were initially unable to believe their eyes, then recorded videos on mobile phones, and soon the entire village began discussing these recordings.

Some residents are glad to see a leopard in the open space for the first time, while others are frightened by how safely they can walk in the fields alone, as they need to engage in agriculture and graze livestock. There is a fear of what to do if a leopard suddenly appears. This fear has intensified the tension in the village.

After receiving information about the leopard, the forest service team took action. Monitoring groups are constantly tracking its movements to understand its direction and ensure it does not approach populated areas too closely. R. Tirukural, Director of the Kuno National Park Forest Fund, stated that leopards living in the open forest naturally move over large territories. The department is continuously supervising and will deploy additional groups if necessary.

The forest service has asked residents not to go into the fields alone, especially in the morning and evening, and to be highly vigilant. If a leopard is spotted, one should not try to approach or surround it, but immediately report it to the forest service. Currently, there are 19 leopards roaming freely in Kuno National Park, while 31 leopards are in enclosures. Their activity is being monitored. Sometimes a leopard leaves the established zone due to its natural behavior and enters adjacent areas.

However, this is not a common occurrence for the local residents. For them, this is the first time they have had to consider the presence of a leopard in the fields alongside their crops. On one side are the fields, on the other the forest, and between them moves a leopard. Anxiety is growing in Gurunauda and neighboring villages. No one knows when this guest of Kuno will return to the forest. In these Shopur villages, the morning of the last three days does not begin with discussions about the weather or agriculture, but with the question: where was the leopard today?

thebetterindia.comJuly 28, 09:38

91-year-old Devaki Amma created a forest of 3000 trees near her home in Kerala after an accident

For years of her life, Devaki Amma spent time in the paddy fields of Mutukulam, a coastal village in the Alappuzha district of Kerala. Agriculture was an integral part of her existence, a work she knew since childhood and continued to do with her husband, Gopalakrishnan Pillai, a retired school principal.

Injury and the start of a new venture

However, at the age of 46, a car accident suddenly interrupted this familiar rhythm. The injury severely limited her mobility, and doctors advised her to avoid physical exertion for almost three years. For someone accustomed to working outdoors from dawn, the long period of forced rest seemed unbearable, and the fields she had cultivated for decades became inaccessible.

Life changed overnight. Restricted mainly to her home space, Devaki Amma began planting individual saplings in a sandy patch near her house, which was previously only used for post-harvest activities. This gave her something to do while recovering her health. She planted one, then another, and then another. Initially, there were no plans to create a forest; it was simply a way to pass the days without doing her usual work.

A family project and its development

This small, repetitive act did not stop after her recovery. Friends and relatives brought seeds and cuttings during visits, and her husband and children joined the effort. Her daughter, Tankamani, who later headed the department of environmental engineering at Tiruvannanthapuram College, watched this quiet, constant labor.

What started as a way to distract herself from boredom gradually turned into a shared family endeavor, and then became Devaki Amma's life mission.

Turning sand into a living forest

Over more than four decades, Devaki Amma's saplings spread across nearly five acres of coastal sandy soil, a plot she named Tapovanam. She worked without formal training, relying on careful observation of the soil and local climate. The use of mulching, organic manure from domestic livestock, and careful preservation of fallen leaves gradually improved the land, which was never supposed to support a forest.

As the monsoon patterns in Kerala changed over the decades, with longer dry spells alternating with intense downpours, Devaki Amma adjusted her methods instead of abandoning them. Her family periodically adapted mulching techniques to prevent waterlogging and protect root systems, using solutions based solely on years of experimentation and observation, rather than textbooks.

Two ponds within Tapovanam never dry up. They help replenish groundwater, assist in preventing seawater intrusion into the coastal soil, and sustain aquatic life year-round. The forest also includes an Indian banyan tree, estimated to be about 200 years old, which is significantly older than Tapovanam itself, which now exists in an ecosystem that grew around it.

Over 3000 trees in an acid-free area

Alappuzha is the only district in Kerala that lacks natural forest cover, making Tapovanam particularly remarkable. Today, the forest comprises over 3000 registered trees, plants, shrubs, and vines, including rare and medicinal species that are becoming increasingly difficult to find elsewhere in the state. It serves as a sanctuary for peacocks, owls, emerald doves, and migratory birds, as well as butterflies and other small wildlife, functioning as a repository of Kerala's endangered native plant species due to habitat loss.

Everything is maintained organically, without the use of chemical fertilizers, using methods developed by Devaki Amma through decades of trial and error. She achieved all of this without institutional funding or a team of specialists, working for most of these four decades with little public recognition. Now, her methods are attracting the attention of a new generation of gardeners, including Krishnakumar S, who helped create over 40 dense urban forests to cool Indian cities.

From one sapling to the Padma Shri award

Devaki Amma, now 91 years old, is widely known in Kerala as 'Vanammattassi', or grandmother of forests. Her work attracted national attention long before this year, including the Indira Priyadarshini Vrikshamitra Award in 2003 and the Nari Shakti Award in 2018, as well as mention by former President Ram Nath Kovind in his Republic Day address. This year, she received the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian award, in the category of Unsung Heroes, becoming the only recipient from Kerala.

Tapovanam is visited by students, researchers, and nature lovers studying biodiversity conservation in situ, and Devaki Amma encourages schools, colleges, and households across the state to grow local and medicinal plants, often providing seeds and saplings herself. Her daughter, Tankamani, now cares for her full-time, while the rest of the family continues to help maintain the forest. Devaki Amma still tends to her plants daily, urging everyone she meets to plant at least one tree. Her four decades of quiet, repetitive labor stand as proof of what patience, family support, and a single sapling can achieve.