We get asked this question quite a lot! As Permaculture becomes more and more popular and perhaps projected as a wonderful solution for diversity and abundance, it is a general perception that “being a Permaculture farm” is the next big innovation in farming.
Initiating the Centre for Mango Conservation & Research
July 2026· Anshul Aggarwal & Charan GP
This year’s abundant mango harvest has felt like an auspicious beginning to the work of establishing a Centre for Mango Conservation & Research at AuroOrchard. The orchard has offered mangoes in a remarkable range of shapes, colours, fragrances, flavours and textures. Some are well-known varieties, while others are local, distinctive or still unidentified trees that have grown at AuroOrchard for many years. The harvest has brought renewed attention to the diversity already present here and to the importance of documenting and conserving it.
India has one of the richest mango traditions in the world. Across different regions, hundreds of varieties have been selected, named, cultivated and shared over generations. Each carries its own flavour, use, growing characteristics, cultural associations and relationship with a particular place. Yet this diversity is becoming less visible as markets increasingly favour a smaller number of standard commercial varieties. Over the next three years, we hope to develop AuroOrchard’s existing mango orchard into a living collection of more than 100 varieties. This will include local, heritage, rare, regional and traditional mangoes, along with important commercial varieties and promising seedling selections.
Our mango orchard currently contains 210 trees and more than 15 known varieties. The main orchard blocks were first surveyed and mapped and the trees were numbered in 2022. We have again surveyed the orchard and the existing records are being updated. This year’s harvest has also allowed us to begin observing and recording the flavour, fragrance, texture, colour and ripening period of the different fruits.
The project is being developed in collaboration with Shyju Machathi and the Nattu Manchottil Educational and Indigenous Fruit Plants Conservation and Research Trust in Kerala. Shyju and the Nattu Manchottil community have played an important role in identifying, conserving and propagating indigenous mango varieties. In recognition of this work, the community received the Plant Genome Saviour Community Award in 2021. Their experience in identifying varieties, collecting scion material, grafting, nursery development and community-based conservation will help guide the work at AuroOrchard.
The proposed Centre will include a living mango diversity collection, a professional nursery for grafted plants, a research and documentation programme, and a learning space for farmers, students, volunteers, researchers and visitors. We also hope to organise mango walks, tastings, exhibitions, grafting workshops and other programmes that allow people to experience mango diversity directly. Through this Centre, we hope AuroOrchard can become a home for mango varieties that may otherwise be forgotten, and a place where this diversity can continue to be grown, tasted, studied, propagated and shared.
