A farmer from Pollachi in Tamil Nadu has transformed his loss-making coconut farm into a profitable multi-crop, tree-based agriculture model, earning up to ₹3 lakh per acre annually and recognition as a UN FAO Soil Farmer Hero. (A representative photo) | Photo Credit: K Ananthan

A Tamil Nadu farmer who once lost Rs 200 on every coconut tree he grew, has transformed his 11 hectare holding into a Rs 2.5-3 lakh per acre enterprise through multi-crop, tree-based farming — earning him recognition as a UN FAO Soil Farmer Hero.

Valluvan (58), who cultivates in Pollachi district, said he was spending Rs 500 per tree annually while earning just Rs 300, leaving him in a cycle of losses before he overhauled his approach in 2009.

“I was losing money on every coconut tree I owned. I knew I had to find a solution,” he told reporters here.

The turnaround came after he encountered Isha Foundation’s The Save Soil - Cauvery Calling programme, promoted by spiritual leader Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, which advised a shift to multi-crop, multi-tier tree-based agriculture.

From three crop varieties, Valluvan now cultivates over 14 types on the same land — coconut, nutmeg, pepper, seven banana varieties, turmeric, elephant yam, curry leaves and 30 tree varieties.

Income rose steadily from Rs 30,000 to Rs 2.5-3 lakh per acre annually, while soil organic carbon content climbed from 0.5 per cent in year one to 1.56 per cent by year seven.

Farm survives droughts with low-water agriculture methods

The farm also withstood two severe droughts, including a 2017 crisis when groundwater levels dropped beyond 1,000 feet and no rain fell for two consecutive years — a period when many neighbouring farmers felled their coconut trees.

Through mulching and rainwater harvesting pits, the farm retained sufficient moisture without additional irrigation.

It now uses one-tenth of the water previously required, and Valluvan expects to eliminate irrigation needs entirely within a few years.

“Even sensitive crops like nutmeg and pepper, which farmers say need lots of water, survived without extra irrigation,” he said.

Multi-crop farming seen as climate and income safeguard

The farm’s multi-crop model also functions as an economic hedge, said Anand Ethirajalu, Project Director at Save Soil - Cauvery Calling.

“If coconut prices fall, his nutmeg saves him. If nutmeg also falls, his banana saves him. He has a series of crops,” Ethirajalu said, comparing the strategy to a cricket team with equally competent substitutes.

Since its 2019 scaling, Cauvery Calling has planted 13.4 crore trees on private farmland across Tamil Nadu and Karnataka — roughly 10 per cent of the 242 crore trees targeted to restore year-round flows in the Cauvery river basin.

Ethirajalu, however, flagged scaling, funding and policy barriers as key obstacles to wider adoption, calling for drip-irrigation support for timber crops, removal of restrictive state-level timber-sale regulations, and insurance and subsidy schemes for tree-based agriculture.

“Tree-based agriculture is the only solution for global warming and the climate crisis threatening the entire world,” Valluvan said.

Published on May 29, 2026