Small farmers lack the resources to purchase fruit tree saplings from the nurseries every time. Even if they manage, it does not guarantee the same output and production from the plants.

Air Layering Propagation (ALP) technique can help in bringing a good-sized plant in a matter of weeks instead of months or years. It is a method of propagating new trees and shrubs from stems still attached to the parent plant, but a healthy fruit tree sapling grew in a nursery using the ALP technique costs between Rs. 120 and Rs. 200 per sapling.

It can cost a family about Rs. 700-1,200 to plant 5-6 various varieties of these tree saplings in the garden. The majority of high-quality nurseries are found along major thoroughfares, 15-20 kilometers away from most communities. It would be more expensive, more time-consuming, and require additional travel to buy saplings from the nursery under these conditions. They decided against pursuing such a plantation endeavour since it looked like too much for them.

Although purchasing seedlings to benefit the community might have been the simplest course of action but doing so required enough funds. It would also be a huge waste of time, effort, and resources if the seedlings perish for whatever cause outside our control.

“Caritas India has always supported and encouraged tree plantations at the family and community levels under the FARM programme in the Northeast. Guwahati Gana Seva Society (GGSS), a partner of Caritas India in Assam has always supported the community with variety of tree seedlings from its end and with help from the department of Environment and Forests and Climate Change, says Prabin Minz, Coordinator, FARM. Every time such plantations are backed by the community by offering a piece of land for the purpose.

While searching for a more effective approach, GGSS came across and met a few lead farmers promoted under the FARM earlier Phases I and II villages were trained in growing tree saplings using the Air Layering Propagation (ALP) method. With the use of this technique, they have produced thousands of saplings throughout the years and reaped the rewards. They even started a neighbourhood nursery and made good money.

With the aid of Keshab Das and Lalu Tarang, two knowledgeable farmers from Phase I & II villages, as resource people, a teaching programme through particle demonstrations was carried out in Garangkuchi village, located in the Morigaon district’s Mayong Block. The FARM programme also took this opportunity and through consistent practice, they are confidently leading such demonstrations in other FARM villages.

They claim that producing high-quality saplings of any type quickly and with little effort is a fairly simple process like ALP. Anyone in the communities can grow a sapling with some early coaching on ALP. They may recognize and choose a high-quality breed of tree of their choice that produces a lot of nutritious fruits.

A simple technique like ALP involves the following steps

• Choose a one- to two-year-old stem that is straight, healthy and vigorous. Trim offside shoots and leaves from a 1ft section.
• Wound a section of the parent material as the stem, making a 1inch cut through a leaf bud, angled towards the shoot tip. This will create a tongue that can be lifted
• Apply hormone-rooting compound to the surface of the wound
• Wrap the wounded stem section loosely with transparent plastic, so that when the roots are developed is visible.
• Leave the wrapping in place for up to 15-18 days.
• When strong new roots are visible remove the plastic sleeve. Cut through the stem just below the rooted section
• Pot up the rooted stem in potting compost suitable for the plant in question. Do not attempt to remove the moss from the roots. Water, label and grow on until large enough to plant outside

The method sounded highly practical and useful to the farmers who were given a demonstration. This touched them close as they could smell the possibility of a good income.

Today, all the 32 households in Garangkuchi village have people who are proficient in ALP technique for growing saplings. As the monsoon season began in April 2022, the farmers have grown more than 1,000 high-quality fruit tree saplings of mango, guava, litchi, plum, java plum, lemon, jackfruit, peach, apple, berry, and pomegranate etc.

Few farmers have even gone to the extent of establishing small scale nurseries. Rajat Bangthai, a young and talented farmer from the hamlet of Garangkuchi, sold 300 fruit tree saplings of the mango, litchi, guava, and lemon at an average price of Rs. 80 by accepting orders from the consumers, and he made a profit of Rs. 24,000.

“We shall carry on with this technique and make an efforts to grow as many seedlings as we can. It not only resolves the issue of the lack of good quality fruit tree saplings to plant in our community, but it also provides an opportunity for income generating. said Rajat Bangthai, a farmer from Garangkuchi