Help us raise funds for 2026!ㅤㅤㅤㅤ
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. Home » Blog » Help us raise funds for 2026! Help us raise funds for 2026! November 2025 · Anshul Aggarwal 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. An overview of AuroOrchard’s production in 2024-25 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. Budget allocation for 2026 Irrigation Infrastructure 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. Energy: Solar & Electrical Infrastructure 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. Poultry: Upgrading existing infrastructure 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. Food Processing – New Machines, Tools, Systems 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. Dormitory 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. Team Support 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 Previous ArticleNext Article Featured Articles Abundance Product of the Month 22 Oct 2025 Monthly Updatesㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ 22 Oct 2025 Recipe Alert!ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ 01 Dec 2025 The Flying Houseㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ 01 Dec 2025
Monthly Updatesㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
We continue to renovate our chicken coops introducing new systems for drinking water and feeding the birds. Next, we will redesign the nesting boxes. Last month, we welcomed the third flock of brown birds. This marks the full transition of our poultry from white birds to brown! Home » Blog » Monthly Updates Monthly Updates November 2025 · AuroOrchard Poultry This month has kept us busy troubleshooting the new systems in the poultry as both the birds and us get used to them. The heavy rains and cool weather also got us working on roof leakages and covering the walls with tarpaulins to prevent cold winds entering the coops. Overall the birds’ health is better this month. The youngest flock has been introduced to the free-range and they love it! Vegetable garden We are sowing green manure on the raised beds and preparing them for the winter planting after the monsoon. The monsoon rhythm this year has been quite special and we anticipate we will have a longer growing season. The current planting is being done on the raised beds which have better drainage than the fields. The fields are being kept under sunnhemp cover for the monsoon. We are also using this time to add compost and biomass to the beds. Orchards Since most of the planting was done in the preceding months, the work for this month was maintaining what was planted. The biomass plants like subabool, castor and mexican sunflower have already grown big in the young orchards of jackfruit and avocado. They have been pruned significantly to allow for sun and air circulation, while adding valuable biomass to the soil. The vigorous growth of all the plants in the syntropic system, especially with abundant water in the soil, is heartening to see. We also planted more Papaya plants in the Ramphal-Pineapple block. Seeds & Nursery The nursery is full of vegetable, green and herb seedlings—pumpkin, cucumber, beans, celery, arugula, lettuce, palak, brinjal and ladies’ fingers. Once the rains taper, we’ll begin herbs like coriander. We’ll also plant more perennial saplings, including harmony, subabool, lemongrass and others flowering plants to continue building diversity on the farm. Abundance The room renovations are complete and our team has a new space to organise all the work. More people have also joined the team, bringing in new ideas and approaches. The conversations about how to use food once it is grown have been deeply inspiring. Some new products are also being experimented on and some have already been added to the baskets with encouraging feedback. For the coming month, we would like to focus on preparing for the abundant spring season as well reflect more deeply on the packaging of our products and continue exploring better and natural ways of packing and distributing the food. Research & Education The research projects continue in their own rhythm and pace. We will be restarting our vermicompost project in the coming month. This project combines the wisdom of the indigenous worms with the efficiency of the exotic ones into a single worm polyculture. More details and pictures will shared soon. We also have a new team member who is helping us analyse the data of our production records since 2022. We hope to be able to share this data with you all soon. October 2025 Poultry We continue to renovate our chicken coops introducing new systems for drinking water and feeding the birds. Next, we will redesign the nesting boxes. Last month, we welcomed the third flock of brown birds. This marks the full transition of our poultry from white birds to brown! Vegetable garden Monsoon has arrived early! We are finishing some last remaining green manure work. We could not finish planting sweet potato in the fields due to the rains but have started rugula and spinach in the greenhouse. We are still getting a good quality of brinjal, ladies finger, some last cucumbers and pumpkins and anticipate a reduced production next month due to lack of Sun. Orchards The new Avocado block planting is done! This was just in time for the monsoon. We now continue to prune and cut grass to add biomass in the Papaya, Avocado, Jackfruit orchards. For this rainy month, we will focus only on pruning and cutting biomass creating more light and ventilation for the plants as well as adding mulch to protect the soil from rain compaction. Many more biomass trees like Melia dubia, Acacia auriculiformis, Medical Sunflower, Subabool, Moringa, Agathi and others. have also been added in the old and new orchards. Seeds & Nursery Most of the tree saplings raised in the past months have been planted across the farm for biodiversity and biomass production. We started a diversity of herbs this month– Basil, Celery, Mint, Peppermint and Lemongrass. Our experiments with mint have been great and we are offering this in the baskets regularly. The coming days will be busy with preparing seedlings of Rugula and Spinach. Abundance We are renovating the Abundance room where all the products are stored and the work of food preservation is done. We continue to offer a large diversity of produce through Abundance– cashew, coconut oil, lemon marmalade, basil pesto, conserves of lemon and mango, dry herbs and seasonal vegetable recipes like Brinjal spread and Rosella leaf chutney. Our team is exploring how we can move away from the idea of food processing to food preservation where the goal is not just “adding value” to sell something for a higher price, but focus on food preservation keeping the nutrition and flavour for longer. We welcome people from the community who may have any ideas or time to explore this with us. Research & Education We are happy to receive a small yet significant seed fund from SDZ, Netherlands for our project on Natural Beekeeping. Beekeeping at AuroOrchard began in 2015 to restore ecological balance and strengthen pollination. Following Natural Beekeeping principles—no treatments or artificial feeding—we let colonies live by their own rhythm. With about thirty
Report on fund utilisation from AVI USA Matching Campaign 2024
Our Turmeric roots have been sun-dried and turned into flakes that can be easily infused in some hot honey & lemon tea for the changing weather with a pinch of black pepper. Home » Blog » Report on fund utilisation from AVI USA Matching Campaign 2024 Report on fund utilisation from AVI USA Matching Campaign 2024 November 2025 · Anshul Aggarwal During 2024 and 2025, AuroOrchard was fortunate to have been supported with donations raised through AVI USA, AVI Germany, AVI France, AVI Spain and the Abundance Project Coordination Group which coordinates with Stichting de Zaaier in the Netherlands. This support came at a crucial time after the land exchange at the farm helping us rebuild and replace some critical infrastructure as well as invest in expanding our team and diversifying farm activities. This report summarises how the funds were used in 2025, and our plans and aspirations for 2026. Funds raised through AVI USA matching campaign 2024 We were able to raise a total of 8500 USD from December 2024 until November 2025. Break-up for expenses of funds raised through AVI USA from Dec 2024 until Nov 2025 Infrastructure More than half of these funds were utilised to replace crucial infrastructure on the farm that was lost in the land exchange of 2023. This includes: a new electrical connection, entrance cowgate, stabilising new paths, water infrastructure for irrigation and domestic use on the farm. Poultry The next big part of this fund was used to renovate and upgrade our poultry. Over the last three years we have made significant changes to our poultry practice- like changing the breed of the birds and adding maintenance protocols. We have now started upgrading the feeding and drinking systems for the birds. This is a significant expense for all the four coops (around 2000 birds). We were able to make a good start in 2025, but much remains to be done in 2026. Food Processing To diversify farm income and find ways of using abundant produce when it cannot be distributed in Auroville, we started a small food processing activity with a new team on the farm. This needed significant improvement in our community kitchen set up and purchasing some basic equipment and tools. Some of the funds were useful in starting this work. Area Description Elements Money spent in 2025 from AVI USA Campaign Total Donation Money spent in 2025 Budget for AVI USA 2026 Water We continue to expand our micro-irrigation infrastructure as we create new orchards and diversify existing ones. Replace & repair two major water sumps, purchase Irrigation pipes, plumbing fixtures, labour for installation & maintenance ₹ – ₹ 1,02,242.00 ₹ 4,00,000.00 Energy As the farm expands, its electrical infrastructure needs expansion. We are are carefully assessing how we can supplement as much of our need through solar energy. Re-organising existing domestic connections to distributed load, new agriculture connection to replace the one lost in land exchange, better and bigger batteries to use solar energy effectively. ₹ 3,14,013.00 ₹ 3,12,775.00 ₹ 5,00,000.00 Volunteer Dormitory To involve more people in our work, we need spaces where volunteers & newcomers can stay. Dormitory structure, common showers, toilet, kitchen area, plumbing and electricity facilities. ₹ – ₹ – ₹ 10,00,000.00 Food Processing During this year, we significantly expanded our food processing systems. We have a new team looking after this work and we need to buy some new machines and tools to improve and do more. Dehydrator, ₹ 66,146.00 ₹ 3,42,087.00 ₹ 5,00,000.00 Storage shed. Poultry Our poultry activity is over 40 years old. Some of the structures need significant repairs and installation of better systems and technology. As we move forward with an international certification of humane poultry keeping, we need to make some investments in upgrading our systems Free range expansion, Coop renovation-roof, flooring nesting spaces. ₹ 2,54,352.00 ₹ 4,44,539.00 ₹ 3,00,000.00 Team In the past year, we have made a significant attempt in reaching out to our community through stories and updates about the farm. We have also received a few newcomers who are now dedicated to working at the farm. The massive infrastructure replacement and renovation means we need secured funds to support young people who wish to engage with the farm and dedicate their work in Auroville to grow food. Majority of this support came from the farm income from sales of produce. Only a very small part of the donations were used for this. Communication team, volunteer & newcomer support ₹ – ₹ 82,745.00 ₹ 5,00,000.00 Infrastructure ₹ 1,21,981.00 ₹ 3,95,323.00 ₹ – Plantations ₹ – ₹ 4,03,214.00 ₹ – Tools & Machines ₹ – ₹ 34,932.00 ₹ – ㅤ ㅤ TOTAL ₹ 7,56,492.00 ₹ 21,17,857.00 ₹ 32,00,000.00 $ 8,519.05 $ 23,849.74 $ 36,036.04 Expenses from January 1, 2025 until November 15, 2025 To know about our plans for 2026 and help us raise funds, please visit our donation portal here. Previous Article Featured Articles Abundance Product of the Month 22 Oct 2025 Monthly Updatesㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ 22 Oct 2025 Report on fund utilisation from AVI USA Matching Campaign 2024 17 Nov 2025 Lessons from Auroville Farm Assessment 2023 22 Oct 2025
Is AuroOrchard a Permaculture farm?
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. Home » Blog » Is AuroOrchard a Permaculture farm? Is AuroOrchard a Permaculture farm? August 2025 · Anshul Aggarwal 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. My first answer is ‘NO!’, and my second, in classic permaculture style, is ‘it depends.’ We employ Permaculture design principles where needed and possible, but that does not define the farm. I have had the privilege of studying and working with some exceptional Permaculture teachers and practitioners from India and across the world. I took the Permaculture Design Certificate course in 2014 and the Permaculture Teacher Training Course in 2016. So this explanation comes from an informed place, a place of deep gratitude for Permaculture but also a place of recognition of its limitations. How did it all start? Permaculture was conceptualised by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren in the 1970s in Australia, in response to the crises of industrialised agriculture that intensified with the Green Revolution of the 1960s. They drew on the Aboriginal worldview, a philosophy of life that has sustained people for millennia without degrading the land, and on systems thinking, a then-emerging approach that studies the whole rather than just the parts. Combining these perspectives, they proposed a regenerative landscape design through which humans could practise sustainable, permanent agriculture, giving it the name “Permaculture.” Permaculture is a ‘design system’ Essentially, Permaculture is a design system. Design has long been a vital tool for human beings, enabling us to imagine and create. We are all designers in some way, using it moment to moment — thinking, planning, visualising, and adjusting with feedback. Over time, design as a discipline became more elaborate, shaping professions that relied on visualisation, spatial planning, architecture, product development, technology, and the power of imagination. Yet in the last couple of centuries, the means and tools of design have evolved so rapidly that the almost godly power it confers can sometimes turn the designer against the designed, and even against life itself. Ethics What makes Permaculture unique is that its design process is founded on three key ethics: Care for Earth Care for People Fair Share By placing these at the core, Permaculture calls on the designer to weigh every decision by its impact on the land, its people, and all forms of life. Echoes of these ethics run through ancient traditions and modern ecological thought, and Permaculture weaves them into a coherent, practical framework for action. Design principles and strategies Click to enlarge The principles of Permaculture are the guidelines for turning its three ethics into practice. They can be applied to systems of any scale, in ecology, communities, or even in one’s personal life. While many practitioners adapt or reinterpret the principles to suit their context, they all rest on natural patterns of circularity, interconnectedness, diversity, flexibility, and cooperation. From these principles emerge strategies such as earthworks, water and soil conservation, and community-based work. Bill Mollison outlined many of these in Permaculture One and Permaculture: A Designer’s Manual in the 1980s, and since then they have been applied and expanded upon by practitioners around the world. Permaculture in India Permaculture is a rapidly growing movement in India, attracting people dissatisfied with the status quo and seeking to reconnect with nature, learn integrated design, or grow their own food. Permaculture offers a strong foundation for working on the land, cultivating a sense of design, and developing an integrated approach to planning — skills especially valuable for those moving from cities to smaller towns and villages in search of a simpler, more meaningful life. Across the country, the number of groups and professionals offering design consultations and courses keeps growing and the community continues to share their challenges, successes, and conclusions here. However, many courses are urban-centric, catering to newcomers without deep farming experience; imported temperate-climate techniques sometimes need significant adaptation for tropical conditions; and short-term enthusiasm can fade if not grounded in daily practice and community support. The challenge of a mass movement Today, Permaculture extends far beyond agriculture. Within a few decades of its inception, the founders recognised that a permanent agriculture solution alone was not enough; creating such systems also required rethinking how people live and work together. This gave rise to social permaculture — an expansion from permanent agriculture to permanent culture. Over the years, it has captured the imagination of many, especially urban dwellers seeking a new language to imagine different possibilities. Yet such growth also brings dilution: Permaculture has come to mean many things, from crop diversity and organic farming to food forests and local food, and sometimes, as a result, it risks meaning nothing at all. It is certainly all of these, but not only these, and it resists absolutes, always seeking to understand the context and build from there. In my observation this enthusiasm for Permaculture can also sometimes overshadow the purpose of the work and a deeper, long-term relationship with land and community. The absence of spirit There is a concept in Permaculture called invisible structures, the subtle relationships that hold physical reality together. On a farm, for example, visible structures include the soil, water, plants, and infrastructure; the invisible ones are the relationships among the people working the land, their ties to the wider community, and the economic exchanges that sustain them. While the visible is rooted in the physical landscape, the invisible is grounded in the landscape of the mind. Permaculture recognises the need to design and cultivate this inner landscape as much as the outer, yet it avoids explicit conversation
Updates from the Nurseryㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
We have been starting a lot of fruit trees from seeds gathered during this season. We are also actively propagating more biomass plants for the farm as well as for other gardeners. Home » Blog » Updates from the Nursery Updates from the Nursery July 2025 We have been starting a lot of fruit trees from seeds gathered during this season. We are also actively propagating more biomass plants for the farm as well as for other gardeners. You can see a list of available saplings here: Saplings order June 2025 Our nursery continues to grow. We have distributed hundreds of different kinds of plants over the last couple of months to individuals and units. We now have a dedicated team working solely on propagation of flowering and edible plants. February 2025 The first two months of 2025 have been incredibly productive at our nursery. With the purpose of maximising on the cold and dewy weather, we had been focusing on a variety of greens and herbs, sowing them in big numbers, here’s what the numbers look so far – Lettuce: 4,000 seeds Pok Choy: 6,000 seeds Rugula: 2,500 seeds Basil: 2,000 seeds Thousands of saplings Lettuce bed Each of these seeds have been carefully sown, ensuring better germination and strong and healthy saplings that will thrive in the weeks ahead. In addition to planting these and the usual vegetables and greens, we’ve also begun sowing seeds for sapling that you have ordered! If you’re interested in placing an order, you can do so here. Special Mention One of the most exciting developments in these two months has been the sowing of cacao seeds, sourced from a trusted farm near Mangalore. This marks a new step in our journey, and we’re looking forward to seeing the first of the seedlings germinate and flourish! Cacao pods First of the cacao germination! With plenty more to come, we’re excited for what the rest of the season holds. Stay tuned for more updates as our nursery continues to grow! January 2025 As January rolls in, our nursery is busier than ever. The recent cyclone set us back briefly, but with teamwork and determination, we quickly got things back on track to make the most of this productive season. The damage to the nursery after cyclone Fengal (left) and the partial reconstruction (right) to help us continue in this crucial planting season. Each winter, we focus on cultivating a variety of salad greens such as Arugula, Lettuce, and Celery, along with our staple vegetables. This year, we are pleased to introduce a new addition to our crops – Palak Keerai, also known as Spinach; a much-loved favourite! We’re also experimenting with a few different types of greens and hope to expand our offerings soon. Stay tuned! Previous ArticleNext Article Featured Articles Monthly Updatesㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ 19 Sep 2025 Abundance Product of the Month 18 Sep 2025 Recipe Alert – Stir Fried Sweet Potato leaves with Tofu 22 Sep 2025 Food and Agriculture in Auroville, India 18 Sep 2025
What Did Auroorchard Produce & Where It Went
This is an overview of the distribution of food from AuroOrchard during April 2024 to March 2025 and its comparison to the previous years. Despite multiple challenges, the farm continues to grow and progress on its vision to provide food for the community. Home » Blog » What Did Auroorchard Produce & Where It Went What Did Auroorchard Produce & Where It Went An analysis from April 2024 to March 2025 · AuroOrchard This is an overview of the distribution of food from AuroOrchard during April 2024 to March 2025 and its comparison to the previous years. Despite multiple challenges, the farm continues to grow and progress on its vision to provide food for the community. The financial year 2024-25 was particularly challenging as the farm lost 16 acres of cultivated land out of which 14 acres were orchards- Avocado, Soursop, Ramphal, Jackfruit, Lime, Banana, Papaya, Pomelo, Coconuts, Cashews and 2 acres were intensively cultivated vegetable gardens. We also lost a lot of Bananas and Papayas during Cyclone Fengal in December 2024. We are grateful to have received some financial support from Auroville International USA, France and Germany which allowed us to invest in expanding our cultivation during last year which helped in dealing with these losses in production. Over the last seven years, the farm production is rising significantly (see charts below) and despite the shocks of 2024-25, the overall production has risen for both vegetables and fruits. The following analysis outlines our major production and distribution trends. Vegetables, Fruits & Nuts The vegetable, fruit and nut production has been increasing on the farm on average since 2017. Every year, we are adding more land under more dense and diverse cultivation. At the moment, we are not considering adding more areas under vegetable cultivation and will only be more focussed on orchards. Even then, there is a huge scope to increase vegetable production through better management of existing gardens. The largest potential for AuroOrchard lies in fruit production. With around 18 acres of already existing fruit orchards, the production is still quite low. By careful pruning of some older trees, adding new trees and making the orchards more dense, we can grow a lot of fruit for the community, for which there is also a growing demand. Eggs In the last few years, we have been consistently experimenting with the poultry to find what is the best solution for highest ethical standards, quality as well as viable economics in providing eggs consistently to the community. In these years, we tried starting birds of di`erent ages, reorganised the free range area and finally replaced all the white birds for a variety of birds called ‘hyline-brown’. The dips in production between 2018 and 2020 were perhaps due to bad planning and a long gap between flocks. The dip in production in 2024-25 is due to health issues of the white birds and the complete transition to brown birds. With 1500 birds, we are expecting an average of around 900-1000 eggs per day this year. This would perhaps be the highest that we can imagine to distribute given the limited market in Auroville for free-range eggs that cost more. The cost of these eggs in outside markets are even more so we do not have a solution where these eggs are being sold at much less. Eventually, the cost of these eggs can be brought down significantly if Auroville has its own feed milling activity. It will also ensure better, rich and diverse food for the chickens. For the farm, the focus for the coming year is to continue developing the poultry practice and enhance the quality of the lives of the chickens and that of the eggs even more. Distribution The majority of the food produced went to PTDC followed by Foodlink and Aurovilians, Newcomers and volunteers. 99% of the food produced is distributed within Auroville. The remaining 1% is distributed around Auroville in the Bioregion and in Pondicherry to individuals and mainly Grinde store. With the share from some Auroville units going down and the farm expanding its cultivation, we will need more distribution options within and outside of Auroville. Financial sustainability Currently, more than half of the farm income comes from the eggs. Vegetables, fruits and nute despite their share of almost three quarters in production weight cover less than half of income. Within vegetable and fruits, vegetables are even less financially rewarding and the income from the eggs subsidises the cost of vegetable production. As our fruits cultivation expands, we are hoping to increase the income share from the fruits. The farm has also started selling seeds, saplings, and simple processed goods within Auroville, which has also created a new, though small for now, income stream. Previous ArticleNext Article Featured Articles Monthly Updatesㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ 19 Sep 2025 Abundance Product of the Month 18 Sep 2025 Recipe Alert!ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ 22 Sep 2025 Food and Agriculture in Auroville, India 18 Sep 2025
The hydrological cost of growing our food
In my last note, I shared about the economic paradigm that is taking us towards a ‘world without agriculture.’ I would like to explore this economic paradigm a little more by isolating the costs of the food that we grow. Let’s take water as the first one. As per several studies, agriculture accounts for about 70% of all freshwater use globally. This number is more than 80% in a country like India where over 50% of the population is still engaged in agriculture. Within Auroville, farms (perhaps along with Matrimandir) are the biggest users of freshwater. The challenges of groundwater depletion, rampant use of free electricity borewells in the bioregion for non-edible crops like casuarina and other fast-growing timber, the beginnings of salination of groundwater and so on offer an opportunity to us to reflect on the hydrological cost of growing food and how can we not only reduce our water consumption but, perhaps what I think is more important to focus on, optimize the use of water in agriculture. Home » Blog » The hydrological cost of growing our food The hydrological cost of growing our food Mar 11, 2025 · Anshul Aggarwal In my last note, I shared about the economic paradigm that is taking us towards a ‘world without agriculture.’ I would like to explore this economic paradigm a little more by isolating the costs of the food that we grow. Let’s take water as the first one. As per several studies, agriculture accounts for about 70% of all freshwater use globally. This number is more than 80% in a country like India where over 50% of the population is still engaged in agriculture. Within Auroville, farms (perhaps along with Matrimandir) are the biggest users of freshwater. The challenges of groundwater depletion, rampant use of free electricity borewells in the bioregion for non-edible crops like casuarina and other fast-growing timber, the beginnings of salination of groundwater and so on offer an opportunity to us to reflect on the hydrological cost of growing food and how can we not only reduce our water consumption but, perhaps what I think is more important to focus on, optimize the use of water in agriculture. There are different ways of thinking about what we should grow and what we can grow depending on people’s preference and the weightage we can give to the ecological and social costs of growing food. Should something be grown only because it’s easier to grow, or because it is more water efficient, or because people really ask for it, or it is less labour intensive and so on. The answer to these questions is never black and white and they change from situation to situation and from time to time. For instance, farmers cannot impose water efficiency over people’s preference for a certain kind of food. At the same time farmers cannot simply chase what the market demands, prioritizing it over its ecological costs. Flood irrigation Flowering Avocado tree A classic case for this is Avocado. It is common knowledge that Avocado is a water guzzling crop. AuroOrchard received its first Avocado seeds from the Mother herself in the early 70s. These we now call the Mother trees. From these trees, many more trees have been planted at AuroOrchard as well as outside. These Avocados are some of the best that we can find in the region, some would say anywhere. There is a huge demand for these Avocados in Auroville and also the Ashram community. Should we be planting more Avocado knowing that we can grow them well? Or should we turn our heads and let people buy Avocados from Pondy market which are nowhere near as good and definitely have a higher ecological cost. Again, the answer is not straightforward and we need to find a balance. We have planted more Avocado trees in the last year but we are exploring how Avocados can be grown with other fruit crops so that water can be used optimally. In such a scenario, the hydrological cost of Avocado gets distributed to many other crops that are growing with it. However, such a solution would then add to the management costs of the system and perhaps the management is even more costly since water for the moment is free. Therefore, if farmers are delegated with the responsibility of conserving our natural resources while farming, there are costs associated with conservation as well and these are to be borne collectively. The hydrological costs of water must not be seen only as the cost of water used to grow food but also the cost to the farmer to be water-wise, to protect the water-source, to optimise farming within the water resource they are entrusted with. Avocados growing with Papayas Previous ArticleNext Article Featured Articles Abundance Product of the Month 22 Oct 2025 Monthly Updatesㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ 22 Oct 2025 Lessons from Auroville Farm Assessment 2023 22 Oct 2025 Recipe Alert!ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ 22 Sep 2025
Experiments in the Mango orchard
During the last month, our birds contracted a virus and fell terribly sick. The egg production came down drastically with almost no eggs. The little eggs that we got from the sick birds were discarded. With intensive care and help from the entire team, the birds are now doing well. The fourth batch of birds (one-day old chicks) will arrive in two weeks! This will replace the oldest flock which will complete two years at the end of the year. Home » Blog » Experiments in the Mango Orchard Experiments in the Mango Orchard Jan 31, 2025 · Pictures by Ami Grossman For over two years, we have been trying different crops in the Mango orchard to address the gaps of diversity and optimum land utilisation in this more than 80 year old orchard of over 400 mango trees. In 2023, we pruned the mangoes in one section heavily to rejuvenate them. As the space in between was now open to the Sun, we started planting turmeric, pumpkin and brinjal. Ash and Neem leaves are added around the young Pumpkin plants to protect them from Red-gourd-beetle. Sunflowers are being planted in the hedges for diversity and for more food for the bees. Turmeric planted in between the mango trees in May 2024 is now ready for harvest. Pumpkin seeds saved from the farm being sown Channels being irrigated in preparation for Pumpkin planting Next Article Featured Articles Monthly Updatesㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ 19 Sep 2025 Abundance Product of the Month 18 Sep 2025 Recipe Alert!ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ 22 Sep 2025 Food and Agriculture in Auroville, India 18 Sep 2025
