Thirteen camps and counting: the 2026 drive in Mathura

On 4 October 2026, at the Banke Bihari Mandir in Junsuti, the Vriksh Mitra–Gram Mitra Abhiyan held the thirteenth camp of its 2026 season. It is the fifteenth year of the campaign, and this year, with the support of GLA University, Mathura, it has moved block by block across Mathura district, from Baldev in July to Ol, Farah, Raipura Jat, Chhata, Mahavan and Junsuti.

The format is the same at every camp. Farmers registered during the village survey arrive with their cards; the packets of saplings are already waiting on the chairs. Each registered farmer received a packet of ten saplings — two each of jamun, pomegranate, lemon, guava and mulberry. A local school or temple hosts the programme, the area's elders and teachers sit on the stage, and the Foundation's Virendra explains why the trees matter and how to plant and protect them. Farmers who could not attend collect their packets afterwards on the same card, and the host is given a packet for its own campus.

Thirteen camps from 12 July to 4 October put 52,000 fruit saplings into the hands of about 4,760 farmers who attended, and hundreds more who collected their packets afterwards.