Expected outcome includes: 1. ex-situ conservation in the Arboretum by establishing 10 rare TDEF species and ten RET species of Eastern / Western Ghats. 2. ex-situ conservation in the Greenhouse by introducing 10 medicinal plants species, five butterfly host plants and five plants of botanical interest.

Auroville Botanic Gardens (ABG) Auroville-605101, Tamil Nadu
(Project Leader : Paul Blanchflower)
Email: botanical@auroville.org.in

The project aims to upgrade the infrastructure at the garden’s nursery to increase capacity of seedling production both for use in the gardens and in conservation projects associated with the garden.The species targeted for conservation are those of the TDEF of which 223 have been identified as perennial species that have an integral role to play in this particular forest type.

Expected outcome includes: currently the nursery is producing 10000 seedlings per year from over 120 species of indigenous plants as well as from other species of exotic ornamentals. This has a water requirement of 2000 litres per day, with a current water storage capacity dedicated to the nursery of 6000 litres,which is insufficient as shown by present problems.The aim is to develop the capacity of the nursery to 40000 seedling , which will have a minimum water requirement of 8000-10000 litres, daily. 50000 litres of water storage will provide reserves for 5-6 days which is, by experience, a safe period to cover for low wind and solar intensity.

The water system have been developed over the past two years and now the Auroville garden has two wells pumping on alternative technologies (one windmill 15000 I per day max and one solar pump 10,000 I per day max) and storage facilities for 17000 litres. This is enough for the present demands of the gardens, but even with in the next year the need will be for more storage. The proposal is to create an open tank that will hold fifty thousand litres that will be emptied by gravity and a solar booster pump. This will ensure that the seedlings in the nursery have a constant supply of water. Due to the nature of the development in the gardens and the priorities for allocation of funds the nursery has been developed in an adhoc/temporary style, with the use of casuarina poles in construction of shade areas and germination areas. This type of development has served the initial development of the gardens well, but it has always been recognized that when funds become available, the structures would be remade with permanent materials such as GI pipes. The plants are grown on the exposed red soil, and this leads to problems with root growth, both out of the bags and into the bags from surrounding shade trees.

The creation of cement beds will ensure that the plastic bags used for nursery production are maintained well for the 18 months that is necessary for the production of many of the indigenous seedlings.