A World Without Agriculture

Jan 31, 2025 · Anshul Aggarwal

AuroOrchard saw some great shifts in 2024 with the land exchange, the massive loss of productive orchards and infrastructure, the financial difficulties due to the orchard being leased and finally the cyclone as the year came to a close. Through the commitment of the team and encouragement and support from friends within and outside Auroville, the farm managed to (is managing to) get through these difficulties. These moments of crises have also been moments of reflection, self-assessment, even self-criticism.

Mother said to Gerard, “Grow food for Auroville”. It is a simple statement but its context has changed radically. Auroville has changed, the ecosystem has changed, farming has changed, the farmers have changed. As we move towards a new chapter in AuroOrchard’s journey, we are confronted with the same simple question, ‘What does it mean to grow food for Auroville?’. Is growing 8 tonnes of Mango enough? Is growing enough for all the kitchens enough? What does agriculture of the future look like when we are hardly able to manage on the farms? When nature is pictured as abundant and generous, why are our farms always in scarcity?

Farms are now being pushed to be financially sustainable. This, in my opinion, is not a bad thing. A healthy farm is not just healthy ecologically. It creates value also socially and economically. Especially if we want young people to join farming, we need agriculture solutions that can support their livelihood and can show that farming is not a profession of poverty. To address this, AuroOrchard is experimenting with new ways of diverse perennial plantations taking inspiration from Syntropic Farming (a technique developed in Brazil by Ernst Gotsch, a swiss farmer and researcher)(Gotsch, 1995). We have also been changing our poultry practices and have introduced a new breed of birds since last year which is more resistant to diseases and well-suited for free range. We continue to push the boundaries of successive planting and harvesting in our vegetable garden, always having something to offer to the community throughout the year (we consistently harvest 6 days a week from Feb-Nov and 3 days a week for Dec-Jan) . All this good work must translate into not just higher quantities of food, but better quality of food (nutrition and consciousness). All this work must translate into better incomes for the farm workers.

The world population engaged in agriculture has dropped from 70% to 25% in the last 100 years. In India, the number was 75% a hundred years ago and is now down to just about 45%. Researchers conclude that our goals of development are taking us towards a ‘world without agriculture’ (Timmer, 2009) as the agricultural workforce gradually moves out from the rural landscapes towards more developed sectors of the economy. As Auroville ‘develops’, are we also moving towards an Auroville without agriculture? Who will farm here in 20 years, 40 years? Where is the new generation of farmers of Auroville? Why would anyone join farming if it cannot pay for their sustenance? This is a question in front of all the farmers. 

Mother said to Gerard, “Grow food for Auroville.” Our work at AuroOrchard is not limited to growing tonnage of food. We need to find solutions to be able to continue serving the land and the community by cultivating  food of the highest quality, by cultivating farmers of the highest consciousness. These solutions will not only be ecological, but will also address the social, economic, and even personal and spiritual dimensions of agriculture. We welcome all Aurovilians, newcomers, and volunteers to join us in this exploration.