Seed Balls

1. SEED BALLS
Living Earth Balls
Dr N Sai Bhaskar Reddy
Director,The Earth Center
Council for Green Revolution
saibhaskarnakka@gmail.com
http://saibhaskar.com
27th October 2020

2. WORLD FOREST COVERAGE MAP (TREE DENSITY)

3. COUNCIL FOR GREEN
REVOLUTION
• PLANTATION (3.5
M)
• SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPENT
GOALS
• GREENVILLAGES
GREENS ALLIANCE
FOR CONSERVATION
OF EASTERN GHATS
• CONSERVATION
• POLICY ADVOCACY
EARTH CENTER
• CAPACITY
DEVELOPMENT
FOR EMERGENCE
OF EARTH
LEADERSHIP

4. Content
 What is a seed ball?
 History
 Seed Collection
 Precaution's
 How to prepare?
 Color seed balls
 What is suitable time
for dispersing?
 Green Gifts as Seed
Ball
 .

5. History
 “Earth Balls or Seed
Bombs" consist of a
variety of different
seeds rolled within a
ball of
clay/Soil/Paper.
 The technique for
creating seed balls
was rediscovered by
Japanese natural
farming pioneer
Masanobu Fukuoka Masanobu Fukuoka

6. Physics
 Seed Balls have been around for 1000s of years for a
reason: they work!
 Seed balls are easy to distribute quickly over distances.
They can be thrown, slung, or flung much farther than
one could throw a seed.
 Seed balls commonly have fibrous organic matter (ours
do), that helps hold the seed ball together upon
impact, guaranteeing safe delivery.
 Surface conditions can be dry, overly hot or cold, and
windy making life hard on a germinating seed. Seed
balls buffer these harsh conditions.
 The clay and organic matter in our seed balls has a very
high surface area and holds a lot of water.This helps
retain moisture, facilitating germination and growth of
the seedling.
 Low cost compared to plantation

7. Seed
Collection
 Seeds should be collected based on their
specific season of occurrence in nature.
 The seeds are to be completely dried without
having any amount of moisture.
 Once the monsoon/rainy season is about to
arrive that is when the seed balls are to be
prepared.
 Compost can also be kept prepared before the
monsoon season arrives using kitchen waste,
agricultural waste and garden waste etc.

8. Hands on
experience
 A person when does a plantation he/she sees
only the sampling but is unaware of how the
seed looks like or what is the reason behind this
tree.
 This exercise of making seed balls will make
them aware what is the seed which is
responsible for the tree and they will
understand the nature of how does it look.
 This create the connection between the
students and nature.
 It will be a hands on experiment to the students
to connect to nature by making their hands
muddy.

9. Do’s
 Try to pick a seed that is Native to the area and
can withstand drought.
 Do think like aTree! Look for pro-active
microhabitats for your seed balls. Favor areas
likely to conserve moisture, and places wildlife
and livestock can't access easily.
 Do Foster vacant or degraded land and fill
empty urban spaces with trees and flowers.

10. Do’s
 Do obtain permission from the land managers
first if you'd like to re-seed in a conservation
area.
 Do ensure the site is not due for imminent
development and that the plants will thrive
there.
 Do your best to match plant and tree species to
their natural environmental types. eg.
highland, dryland, lakeshore and swampland.
Each to it's own.

11. Dont's
 Ensure that nothing or nobody will be damaged or
harmed by your flying seed balls.
 Don't interfere with food crops but spreading Seed
Balls across agricultural fields. Don't throw them
on land with obvious inadequate growing
conditions.
 If there is insufficient water, light and no obvious
soil for the plants to anchor themselves, they will
most likely eventually perish.
 Don't take Seed Balls to another country or you
may contravene various biosafety laws.
 Don't be impatient. Some seeds germinate only
after several rainy seasons.
 Growing trees is a noble act of kindness, it takes
time and Perseverance.

12. Procedure –
ThreeWays
 Clay + Seeds + Water
 Clay + Compost / Biochar / Charcoal / Cow Dung
+ Seeds +Water
 Coloured Paper/Egg Cases + Seeds + Water

13. 1.Clay +Seeds
+Water
 Clay and small sized seeds.
 One to two inch sizes of balls.

14. Soil +
Compost/Bioc
har/Charcoal/
Cow Dung +
Seeds +Water
 EqualVolume of soil and supporting media
(Compost/Biochar/Charcoal/Cow Dung),
Sufficient amount of water.
• One to two inch sizes of balls.
• After the seed balls have been formed, they
must dry for 24 to 48 hours before use. (Not in
sun - off shade)
• The charcoal dust mixture once soaked in water
disintegrates to expose the seed for
germination in ideal conditions. But it also
helps retain a bit of the moisture around the
seed.
• Mix the seeds with 3/4th mud and 1/4th cow
dung and make them into small but firm balls.

15. 3.Coloured
Paper/Egg
Cases +Seeds
+ Water

17. Make your own colored seedballs!

19. Color
Combinatios
used byCGR
 CGR declared these colors for the Pancha Maha
Vruksha’s (Ficus Species). Using these colors will be
adding a cultural touch to the seed ball making process
and all the colors used are the natural colors.The
following are the details:
 Tumeric for – Juvvi or Cluster figTree(Ficus racemosa)
 Kumkum - Medi or fig tree (Ficus glomerata)
 Jaju – Ravvi or PeepalTree (Ficus religiosa)
 Sunnam – Marri or Banyan (Ficus benghalensis)
 Apart from this, we have many farmers, so for them
the species which can be used for seed balls are
Tamarind(Chinta), Teak, Survi, Bamboo (Veduru),
Timber BasedTree Species, and species which can
sustain the birds and animals.
 Plantation near the bunds and water flowing areas can
also reduces soil erosion.

20. Seed Balls
asGreen
Gifts
 Greeting Cards
 Bookmarks/BookTags
 Gift Boxes
 ChocolateWrapped Gift
 Wedding Gifts/Birthday/SpecialOccasions
 Packed Seed Balls for sale

21. Greeting
Cards-Place on
soil, cover with
soil on 1cm,
water regularly
and wait.

22. Bookmarks/
BookTags
Once ready to plant
them just drop them at
the place were
plantation is to be done
and cover it with soil
and moisture it.

23. Gift Boxes
Chocolate Wrapped Gift
Wedding Gifts
Birth day or
Special Occasions Gifts

24. Packed Seed
Balls forSale

25. Aerial seeding
 Aerial seeding is therefore best suited to sites
whose remoteness, ruggedness, inaccessibility,
or sparse population make seedling planting
difficult. It is particularly appropriate for
"protection forests" because helicopters or
planes can easily spread seed over steep slopes
or remote watersheds and isolated dryland
areas. It seems also well suited for use in areas
where there may be a dearth of skilled laborers,
supervisors, and funds for reforestation. It has
the potential to help increase production of
tree crops for forage, food, and honey as well
as wood for fuel, posts, lumber, charcoal and
pulp.

26. Precautions
 The seed ball should not sown inside the soil it should
be only partially sown if going for sowing of them.
Apart from that just throwing them will also be
sufficient.
 While making the seed balls, the consistency of the soil
should be smooth, it should be sieved before using it.
 The soil should not be wet as it might germinate the
seed. Dry soil has to be used.While making the seed
ball required amount of water can be added.
 To remove excess moisture, adding biochar or
compost can absorb the excess water and prevent the
early germination of seed in the seed ball itself.
 The characteristics of species, especially the ability of
its seed to germinate should be kept in mind.

27. Precautions
 Direct-seeding trials should first be implemented
at sites favorable for seeding, and then, with
experience, should move to the more difficult sites.
 Along with all direct-seeding trials should be some
seedling-planting trials.The relative costs and
successes of the two techniques can be better
judged when they are done in tandem.
 Contrary to popular belief, seeds bombs are not
meant to be buried in the ground. Instead, embed
them partially in the ground.
 Different types of seed may be combined, but
check that they can all be sown at the same time
of year and have similar light and soil
requirements.

28. Protection for
Seed Balls
 Development of less hazardous chemicals for
protecting seeds from rodents, insects, and
birds (some examples worth considering are
wood vinegar, neem oil, chillies, clay, copper
sulfate.)

29. Dispersal of
Seed Ball
 The apt time to disperse the seed balls is during
the monsoon season, once we have the first
rainfall.
 This will be the most favorable condition for
dispersing the seed balls.
 As we might have continuous rains during this
season, this increases the germination in the
monsoon’s first month and increases the
survival rates.

30. SuccessStory
 MucherlaVillage, Ranga Reddy District
 Volunteer Rajnikanth from the same
village made 1 Lakh above Seed Balls
 Single girl could make 32,000 Seed Balls

31. Making of Seed Balls by CGR -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Mwa6TxQ1LqU&feature=youtu. be

32. Sources
 http://www.birdsandblooms.com/blog/easy-gardening-idea-creating-
seed-balls/
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seed_ball
 https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103129515
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCUSElXUicg
 http://treeseedlist.blogspot.com/2016/06/aerial-tree-seeding-for-
forest.html
 https://wiki.nurserylive.com/t/grow-plants-anywhere-with-seed-bombs-
have-you-heard-of/2115
 http://gardenclub.homedepot.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/seed-
balls- final5.jpg
 https://www.ciloubidouille.com/2019/01/27/carte-de-voeux-a-planter/
 https://christines-crafts.com/seed-paper-tutorial/
 https://in.pinterest.com/offsite/?token=69-
228&url=https%3A%2F%2Fchristines-crafts.com%2Fseed-paper-
tutorial%2F
 http://gardenclub.homedepot.com/throw-grow-diy-seed-balls/

33. THANKYOU