After 28 years of toil in Oman, when 57-year-old Rajan Mathew of Punalur in Kerala decided to settle down in his native place Vilakkudy, he didn’t have any idea about what to pursue for a livelihood.
However, the Covid period during 2020 opened up an opportunity when he realized that people of his native place had to depend upon traders from Tamil Nadu to buy lemons, and that too at a high price. Rajan decided to farm lemons at his small plot of land, and he sourced 100 saplings from a farm in Thrissur and planted them on his land.
“Many dissuaded me saying that the lemons will not fetch any profits and there won’t be buyers for them. But I was not ready to give up,” Rajan told “Open Digest.”
He meticulously prepared his land, planting the lemon saplings. With diligent care, organic farming practices, and efficient water management, his lemon trees began to thrive within a year. “Within a year, the lemon trees blossomed and started to yield fruit. Soon I expanded the lemon farming to 80 cents of land,” he said.
Today, Rajan’s 80 cents of land is a thriving orchard yielding over 15 kgs of lemons from each tree annually. The returns are remarkable, and he has been earning a decent income from his lemons, which are not only sold in the local markets but also supplied to catering agencies for marriages and other functions.
“Lemon farming gave me a second chance at life. I only use dry cow dung as manure. There are no pest attacks because lemon leaves naturally ward off pests,” he said.
Rajan now plans to expand his lemon farming after realising the huge market demand for locally cultivated lemons.
