Led by elders: Story of Villiseri’s ‘lemon revolution’

MADURAI: The Villiseri village near Kovilpatti of Thoothukudi district has been witnessing a silent revolution for the past few years through its successful cultivation of lemon.

K. Balamurugan, who owns a lemon grove at Villiseri, says that lemon is the principal cash crop in the village, where many farmers rely solely on the citrus fruit’s cultivation on over 600 acres throughout the year.

He says that municipal solid waste (MSW) compost was mostly used for lemon cultivation which resulted in good yield. The compost is mostly collected from neighbouring Virudhunagar and Tenkasi in some 121 tractors. Apart from this, poultry wastes are also used.

Further, Balamurugan said MSW is the key for successful cultivation and no chemical fertilizer has been applied on the crop for the last eight years. Some farmers use little fertilizer using drip irrigation, he said.

K. Premkumar, president, Villiseri Lemon Farmers Association, said around 450 farmers are relying on lemon cultivation in the village and their main markets are Kovilpatti, Sankarankovil, Tirunelveli and Puliyangudi.

Above all, about 50 to 60 per cent of the lemon cultivators are senior citizens of the village, where they have their own logistics to transport the produce from farm to market.

Prekumar added that several farmers in nearby villages including Sivagnanapuram and Kumaragiri took up lime farming due to the success of Villiseri.

Moreover, about 20 youths, who were earlier employed in countries abroad, returned to their native of Villiseri during the Covid lockdown, laid their hands on lime production, making it a success. Further, he said the youths are also contemplating ideas to add value to the Villiseri grown lemons.

More importantly, the village is a role model for others in sustainable farming practices. The villagers voluntarily joined hands and created two ooranies, which can store fourteen crore litres of water, in 2019 as water bodies to harvest rainwater for agriculture after conducting a technical feasibility study. The initiative to create water bodies was launched during 2013-14 under ‘Namakku Naame’ scheme. Over the last two years, fifteen wells were dug up. After the ooranies emerged as vital source pf water, the lemon cultivation was also extended to 800 acres. These ooranis, which lie on seventeen acres also serve as a major source of groundwater recharge.

On behalf of the Villiseri Lemon Farmers Association, its president received the Green Championship Award last year from the state government, he said.