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Farmland tree cultivation is considered an important option for enhancing wood production. In South India, the native leaf-deciduous tree species <i>Melia dubia</i> is popular for short-rotation plantations. Across a rainfall gradient from 420 to 2170 mm year^–1, we studied 186 farmland woodlots between one and nine years in age. The objectives were to identify the main factors controlling aboveground biomass (<i>AGB</i>) and growth rates. A power-law growth model predicts an average stand-level <i>AGB</i> of 93.8 Mg ha^–1 for nine-year-old woodlots. The resulting average annual <i>AGB</i> increment over the length of the rotation cycle is 10.4 Mg ha^–1 year^–1, which falls within the range reported for other tropical tree plantations. When expressing the parameters of the growth model as functions of management, climate and soil variables, it explains 65% of the variance in <i>AGB</i>. The results indicate that water availability is the main driver of the growth of <i>M. dubia</i>. Compared to the effects of water availability, the effects of soil nutrients are 26% to 60% smaller. We conclude that because of its high biomass accumulation rates in farm forestry, <i>M. dubia</i> is a promising candidate for short-rotation plantations in South India and beyond.