Sadhguru's Cauvery Calling Plants 1.36 Cr Trees In 2024-25, Celebrates World Environment Day With 12.2 Cr Milestone

The Cauvery Calling movement, launched by spiritual leader and environmentalist Sadhguru, has planted 1.36 crore saplings across 34,000 acres in the Cauvery River basin during the 2024-25 season. With this, the total number of saplings planted under the campaign has reached a remarkable 12.2 crore.

The initiative has helped 2.38 lakh farmers shift to tree-based agriculture, which improves soil health, increases water retention, and boosts farm income.

World's largest farmer-led ecological initiative

Cauvery Calling is the world's biggest farmer-driven eco-restoration project. It aims to rejuvenate the Cauvery River, which supports over 8.4 crore people in southern India. The long-term goal is to plant 242 crore trees on private farmland across Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Recognized as a Top Innovator by the Trillion Trees: India Challenge, the movement has seen growing participation. In the last year alone, over 50,000 farmers and citizens joined the plantation efforts.

Sadhguru's vision and soil regeneration focus

Sadhguru has often stressed the urgent need for soil and water preservation.“Cauvery Calling will show the world that degraded land can be revived through focused and planned action,” he said. Anand Ethirajalu, the project director, highlighted the low climate finance allocation to agriculture and argued for more support for soil-based climate solutions.

“Climate change cannot be fixed in the air. It must be addressed in the soil,” he said, underlining the movement's efforts to push for greater funding and attention at global climate forums like COP29 and COP16.

Nurseries and local empowerment

A key part of the success lies in sapling supply. The movement runs major nurseries, including one in Cuddalore, one of the largest single-site nurseries in the world, run entirely by women, which can produce 85 lakh saplings per year. Another nursery in Thiruvannamalai adds 15 lakh saplings annually. These centres feed 50 distribution hubs across Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Saplings of 29 timber species, including Teak, Mahogany, and Red Sandalwood, are sold to farmers at a subsidized rate of Rs 3 each.

Farmer involvement and training

The movement empowers farmers not just as beneficiaries, but as partners to make our environment greener. Many farmers run sapling nurseries and franchises. Over 160 trained field officers visit farmland to guide tree selection based on soil type, water availability, and income potential. The support system includes:

• WhatsApp groups for 52,000 farmers
• A helpline operational daily (9 a.m. to 9 p.m.)
• Partnerships with NGOs, FPOs, Krishi Vigyan Kendras, and panchayats

In 2024, Cauvery Calling also held two mega training events and six zonal programs where experts from top agricultural institutes trained over 8,700 farmers.

Special drives on key environment days

Tree plantation drives were held on important dates like World Environment Day, Van Mahotsav Week, Gandhi Jayanti, and World Soil Day. These events resulted in the planting of 10 lakh saplings across the region.

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