Volunteers plant 400 tree seed-balls

Imran Mojib, Special Correspondent

Gems Modern Academy, Dubai, in partnership with VeggieTech, inaugurated Modern’s Planters’ Patch (Greenhouse) with an outstanding commitment of certifying 1000 Urban Growers from the Academy.

Chief Guest of the event Dr Abdulla Al Karam, Director General of Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), Dubai, along with students, parents and teachers from the Academy discussed the importance of Hydroponics, Vertical farming, Drip Irrigation Technology and Water recycling.

On this auspicious occasion, an enthusiastic group of Dubai residents including some of the parents of GMA School kids, initiated a seed plantation drive of 400 tree seeds (10 different types of species) by planting the “seed-balls” at the Academy as the first step of this initiative. The seed-balls bought from Indian origin company The Tree Box are 100% organic and composed of seeds wrapped inside a layer of soil, compost and natural fertilisers.

Founding members Rajan Rastogi, Dr Mayank Vats, Donald Norden, Dr Deepa, Nabanita, Gargi, briefed the gathering of over 70 guests about the right way of seed plantation, this initiative and their commitment towards green earth. Rajan and Advaita Sharma also met with Dr Abdulla Al Karam to discuss details of their initiative.

Iyad Al Moosa, Director of the Director General Office, was inspired and offered kind words of appreciation to the founder of the group, Advaita Sharma.

This was the second plantation drive in partnership with Global Energy & Environmental Engineering Services (GE3S), Trance Niravana Consulting and Ayurveda R Us, initiated by the group, with the opening initiative being successful plantation of 20 trees at Gulf Model School a month ago as pilot project. They aspire to plant, oversee the growth of the saplings and transform them into healthy and self-sustaining trees.

Sharma said that with an aim to “Give back to the Mother Earth, what we keep taking from it”, the group plans to plant more trees in other schools and universities in UAE, and other parts pf the world.

“Students should become aware that they can play a role in protecting the environment through personal involvement. Experience of such events will help them make intelligent decisions about conservation and use of our valuable natural resources,” he said.