Greening the desert

Largescale planting of trees in deserts for fodder and fuel wood have always come a cropper since a continuous supply of water is never assured. Now, scientists from the Jodhpur-based Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI) have invented a device called Jaltripti to surmount this problem. Jaltripti consists of a double-walled pot in which trees can be planted. The outer pot is impervious and is used to store upto 20 litres of water while the inner pot contains the soil in which the tree is planted. Water from the outer pot seeps into the inner pot. According to CAZRI researchers, Jaltripti could lead to an astounding 80 per cent saving in water as compared to the conventional method of growing trees.