Until last year, we managed to support our team mainly from the farm income. For the coming year, we are seeking some funds to be able to support the newcomers who have just joined the farm, a communication team that helps us share our work with the community and basic support like food and transport for our volunteers. Our goal is to become financially sufficient in the next year to be able to support all our team expenses from the farm itself.
AuroOrchard is Auroville’s oldest farm, founded in 1968-69 under the guidance of the Mother with the vision of “growing food for Auroville.” Spread over 25 acres of red earth on the eastern coast of Tamil Nadu, it has been a cornerstone of Auroville’s food system for more than five decades. Today, it produces over 50% of the fruits and vegetables and 90% of the eggs from Auroville farms.
The farm grows a diversity of crops—mangoes, papayas, bananas, guavas, citrus, roots and tubers, leafy greens, vegetables, and herbs—alongside a small poultry that provides eggs. Each year, these fields and orchards yield several tonnes of fresh food, much of it flowing directly to Auroville’s kitchens and residents. These numbers are never the measure of the work, but rather quiet signs of the farm’s steady rhythm of care and abundance.
In the last five decades, the farm has dealt with many challenges and transitions—ecological, physical, social, cultural, financial, and personal. Despite this, and despite the growing uncertainties of the world, it continues to hold to its purpose: growing food for Auroville and tending to the fragile web that binds land, community, and spirit together. For us, growing food for Auroville also means discovering what agriculture can be for a community and for future humanity.
We are deeply grateful for the trust placed in us by our donors and AVI USA. We are committed to working sincerely, carefully, and with a deep sense of responsibility to the land and the community.
To continue developing the farm in 2026, we are seeking 36,000 USD.
We are expanding our micro-irrigation network as we establish new orchard blocks and diversify existing fruit areas. The expense covers the cost of pipes, plumbing fixtures, and labour for installation and maintenance.
Our electricity infrastructure needs upgrading as the farm is expanding both in intensity of the existing activities as well as addition of new work . In the coming year, we need to reorganise domestic loads across the farm, install a new agricultural electricity connection, purchase and install larger batteries to make better use of solar power. This is a major step toward long-term energy independence and reducing operational costs.
In the coming year, we would like to continue upgrading our poultry- with free-range expansion, coop renovation (roof, flooring, nesting spaces), improvements aligned with humane poultry certification standards. This work directly improves bird welfare and egg quality while restoring an ageing system.
A new food-processing team has emerged, and we have begun developing a wider range of value-added products that help reduce post-harvest losses and add economic resilience.
The goal for the coming year is to purchase small and mid-scale machines, tools for dehydration, bottling, and processing, storage improvements. This work will directly help in supplementing farm income towards long term financial sustainability.
This is the major project for 2026. We would like to improve the existing dormitory and build a new one to address the housing needs for long term volunteers and newcomers on the farm. The current set up can accommodate at most 6 people. We would like to build a new, mobile structure that can accommodate an additional 10 people (at least). This will help us invite young people into agriculture education and practice.
Until last year, we managed to support our team mainly from the farm income. For the coming year, we are seeking some funds to be able to support the newcomers who have just joined the farm, a communication team that helps us share our work with the community and basic support like food and transport for our volunteers. Our goal is to become financially sufficient in the next year to be able to support all our team expenses from the farm itself.
To donate, please visit: https://give.aviusa.org/page/AuroOrchard?fundraiser=NGNGZJAM&member=SYPDDLKJ
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AuroOrchard is certified organic by the Tamil Nadu Organic Certification (ORG/SC/1906/001683) Department accredited by APEDA (Agricultural and Processed Food Products Exports Development Authority), New Delhi, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India.
