Coimbatore-based natural farmer Valluvan, who has received recognition from the UN’s Food and Agriculture division for protecting soil fertility, has called tree-based agriculture a necessity for the present times. He said southern states, including Tamil Nadu, have favourable conditions such as steady sunlight, adequate rainfall and healthy soils that support year-round farming.
Valluvan, a resident of Vadavalli, runs his farm at Vettaikaranpudur near Pollachi. According to him, the soil’s organic carbon content on his land has risen from 0.5% in 2007 to 3.36% now, after shifting to natural practices and improving soil biology.
He said he began coconut cultivation in 2006 but found it unprofitable under a single-crop approach. With average yields of about 110 coconuts per tree, costs exceeding Rs 500 per tree and a selling price of around Rs 3 per coconut, the numbers did not add up. Seeking a way out, he read Nammalvar’s writings and later adopted the traditional multi-crop, multi-layer system after interactions with volunteers from the Isha Yoga Centre.
Under the tree-based, layered model, he incorporated multiple intercrops including fruits, vegetables and greens, and used leaf litter as mulch. He also applied filtered mixtures of native cow dung and urine through drip irrigation, which he said improved soil fertility and increased yields. Valluvan said his income, once around Rs 30,000 per acre, has now risen tenfold.
He added that his farm now has over 9,000 timber trees and more than 2,000 coconut trees, and that dense tree cover keeps the farm’s temperature about 3°C lower. This has enabled cultivation of crops such as pepper, coffee, apple and nutmeg, while also helping the farm withstand droughts and reducing whitefly attacks. With rising carbon emissions and deteriorating air quality leading to issues like acid rain, he argued that increasing oxygen through trees makes tree-based farming an urgent need.
