Coimbatore farmer, recognised by UN FAO as a ‘soil hero’, urges shift to natural farming
Coimbatore farmer V.T. Valluvan has been recognized by the UN FAO as a 'Soil Hero' for his successful transition to multi-level, natural, tree-based farming. His methods have significantly increased soil organic carbon and farm profitability without the need for monocropping.
Why it matters
His success provides a scalable, sustainable model for smallholder farmers to improve soil health and economic resilience in the face of climate challenges.
V.T. Valluvan, a 59-year-old natural farmer at Vettaikaranpudur in Pollachi, Coimbatore district, has won the third place in the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UN FAO) ‘Soil Hero Guardian’ contest, for increasing the soil organic carbon to 1.56%.
This is the first time this recognition has come to India, he claims.
What brought the ’Soil Hero‘ award to Mr. Valluvan is his effort since 2009 to convert his agriculture land into a “multi-level, multi-crop, tree-based” farmland.
After suffering losses for three consecutive years (2006 to 2009), when he was growing monocrop on 7.5 acres, he moved on to multi-level, multi-crop, tree-based agriculture.
Today, he boasts of his income increasing more than 2.5 times per acre, growing over 14 varieties of crops, and having 9,600 trees on 32 acres.
“We managed the 2015-2016 drought without buying water and without felling the coconut trees,” he said.
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