There was a time when the tiny village of Pothre in Maharashtra stood under a cloud of despair. With low rainfall, barren farmlands, and mounting debts, hope seemed like a distant dream. So much so that banks refused loans and families from neighbouring villages hesitated to marry their daughters into Pothre.

“Not many years ago, our village was hit by extreme poverty. Banks would not provide loans, and neighbouring villagers wouldn’t get their daughters married to our boys,” recalls Bhausaheb Jhinjhade, 48, one of the many farmers who have witnessed Pothre’s remarkable turnaround.

But amidst this gloom, a single act of vision sowed the seeds of transformation.

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One farmer’s vision sparks a lemon revolution

Back in the early 1980s, a visionary farmer in Pothre decided to take a bold step — planting the village’s first lemon orchard. With lemons requiring minimal water to thrive, they proved perfectly suited to Pothre’s arid conditions. The crop’s resilience and year-round yield quickly inspired others to follow suit.

Pothre’s dry, black soil—once unsuitable for water-intensive crops—proved ideal for lemons, which need less irrigation and can tolerate arid conditions.

Today, lemons flourish on 750 acres out of Pothre’s 2,500 cultivable lands, offering a steady income to hundreds of families and completely reshaping the local economy. What once was barren has now turned golden.

“Limbu apala taranhara ahe… Pothrechi jovanrekha (Lemon has been our saviour… Pothre’s lifeline),” says Jhinjhade.

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