This palm grove in Pandikulam is the cynosure of all eyes now

All because a visionary farmer made massive efforts three decades back

A remote village in Pudukottai district and a 72-year-old farmer have garnered public attention for having raised a lush palm grove with nearly 10,000 trees in the village tank at a time when the government is seeking to give a push to raising palm trees across the State. Nearly half of the sprawling tank, Pandikulam in Pandikudi village in Aranthangi panchayat union, is densely populated with palm trees now, thanks to an initiative of a visionary farmer, M. Thirupathi, and his then young friends, who took up a plantation drive in the rain-fed area over three decades back.