Monthly Updatesㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
We had the first audit and inspection of our poultry from Certified Humane International. The inspector appreciated the work being done with the poultry on the farm and gave some really helpful comments and suggestions. We are completing the paperwork of the certification and will soon be one of the very few farms in India certified by this international standard. At the same time, we are replacing a flock and will be getting another flock of one-day old chicks in the coming weeks. Home » Blog » Monthly Updates Monthly Updates Febuary 2026 · AuroOrchard Poultry We had the first audit and inspection of our poultry from Certified Humane International. The inspector appreciated the work being done with the poultry on the farm and gave some really helpful comments and suggestions. We are completing the paperwork of the certification and will soon be one of the very few farms in India certified by this international standard. At the same time, we are replacing a flock and will be getting another flock of one-day old chicks in the coming weeks. Vegetable garden The garden is blooming with pumpkin, winged beans, long beans, brinjal, ladies fingers, cucumber, rosella, rugula, spring onion, chives, celery, coriander, lettuce, spinach, and flowers. We are expecting even more diversity in our harvests in the coming weeks. The pressure from wildlife has been intense and we lost quite a lot of produce to squirrels, rats, peacocks, wild boars and stray cattle. This is also the seed-saving season and we are stocking up for the year. We are grateful to a dedicated team of volunteers and a young team for their persistent work in maintaining the garden despite the challenges. Orchards The syntropic blocks are being pruned to create more light and biomass for the fruit trees. Mango and Avocado have set beautiful flowers and if the weather allows we are expecting a good yield with better quality (unlike last year when most mangoes were damaged or had worms). We also planted several new varieties of Bananas and got some really useful feedback on our existing Banana plantation which we plan to work on soon. We will also be establishing a new Lemon orchard to replace our current lemon plantation which is over fifteen years old. Seeds & Nursery This is the most important season for us to save seeds. However, most of our seed plots were damaged by squirrels, peacocks and rodents. We can feel this pressure even in the nursery where young seedlings are constantly being damaged by these small animals. We are creating nets and physical protection to continue this work. Despite these challenges, we are grateful for the diversity of this season, the wonderful saplings that are being planted every week in the gardens and the seeds that we did manage to save and will save for the rest of the year. Abundance We have had some new people in the team and this brings in new ideas, new recipes and new energy to try out different things. Besides continuing replenishing the stock of products that we already have, we made some dry flakes from mango ginger and spent a lot of time working on rosella and lime (both abundant in this season). We are also experimenting with new ways of preserving and offering fruit pulp, which will be in abundance in the coming months- especially mango, papaya, banana, jackfruit. Research & Education With our ‘conscious technology lab’ project, we are currently setting up a work place on the farm and establishing relationships with vendors to understand the products and technology that we would like to employ for the automated irrigation system. We will also re-install the water meters on our borewells which will allow us to analyse and report our water usage with the community. For the ‘natural beekeeping project’, we have extended the beehive sheds to introduce new hives. We have been receiving a lot of interest from volunteers, visitors and beekeepers in the work being done at the farm. This encourages us to continue this research and share its value with the community and other farmers. We recently hosted a beautiful knowledge-sharing session on bananas with Vinod Sahadevan Nair, whose deep passion and lifelong work with banana diversity inspired everyone present. He shared his journey, cultural associations of bananas across regions, and practical insights into cultivation, propagation, and managing diverse varieties in a sustainable way. We have a growing team of young Aurovilians and volunteers on the farm which is experimenting with different ways of organising collective work and living. We are also exploring how the learning dimension of the farm can be shared with other volunteers and visitors on the farm. The farm continues to offer farmwalks every Wednesday 10 am to 12 pm. These walks have been extremely useful in sharing and articulating our work, as well as hear about people’s interests and feedback. Knowledge-sharing session on bananas Our new tech office space January 2026 Poultry Our poultry continued to be a major focus this month. We remodeled all the nest boxes, adding more perches and relooked at some of the practices to ensure efficiency and better living conditions for the birds. We were also audited by the Certified Humane International (https://certifiedhumane.org/) for certification. Our experience with this certification has been a great learning experience and we are happy that soon AuroOrchard’s poultry will be one of the few internationally certified poultries for free range in India. Vegetable garden This is a very busy and perhaps the most fulfilling season in terms of planting. We are growing Lettuce, Rugula, Celery, Coriander, Palak, Chili, Brinjal, Ladies Fingers, Pumpkin, Cucumber, Long Beans, Winged Beans and many flowers! The soil feels great after the monsoon and with the cold morning dew and the greens love this weather. We also have a wonderful volunteers’ team which is working hard every day on weeding, composting, pruning and mulching. Orchards This month was mainly for maintenance and harvesting. The Rosella planted in between young Jackfruit
Year-end updatesㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
This year has been a year of transformation for the poultry. We completed the full transition from white to brown birds and strengthened our free-range systems, experimenting with new grazing rotations, fodder crops, and improved water and feeding systems. Despite periods of illness and market dips, bird health improved steadily, and we joined the Cage-Free & Free-Range Poultry Producers Association. As we advance on our application for the Humane Farm Animal Care certification, we remain even more committed to building ethical poultry as a core part of the farm. Home » Blog » Year-end updates Year-end updates December 2025 · AuroOrchard Poultry This year has been a year of transformation for the poultry. We completed the full transition from white to brown birds and strengthened our free-range systems, experimenting with new grazing rotations, fodder crops, and improved water and feeding systems. Despite periods of illness and market dips, bird health improved steadily, and we joined the Cage-Free & Free-Range Poultry Producers Association. As we advance on our application for the Humane Farm Animal Care certification, we remain even more committed to building ethical poultry as a core part of the farm. Vegetable garden The vegetable garden has had abundant cool-season harvests, successful turmeric and sweet-potato yields, and expansions into wild edible greens and ginger trials. Monsoon months challenged sun-loving crops, but green manure, mulching, and raised-bed drainage helped maintain soil fertility. Burlap tarp experiment was a failure but it taught us something valuable about soil drainage during the monsoon. Throughout the year, we grew a steady diversity—from lettuces, greens, brinjal, ladies fingers, herbs, pumpkins, legumes, and root crops—while working to conserve moisture, add biomass, and refine weed management. Orchards This was our most intensive orchard years, with seven new syntropic and intercropped fruit blocks planted (Papaya-Citrus, Avocado-Papaya, Coconut-Banana, Ramphal-Pineapple, Jackfruit-Papaya, Mango-Citrus, and Hope Jackfruit/Avocado blocks). Despite challenges with Mango and Avocado yields due to rains, the intercropping trials performed well—especially turmeric, pineapple, and pumpkin. We also expanded biomass species, refined pruning cycles, introduced new citrus, and continued cyclone recovery work for Papaya and Banana. Syntropic blocks showed vigorous, synergistic growth and promise as our most efficient orchard-establishment strategy. This work is exceptionally important in guiding our orchard work for the coming year. Seeds & Nursery The nursery was vibrant and dynamic throughout the year, producing a wide range of vegetables, herbs, biomass plants, and fruit saplings. We propagated Jackfruit, Soursop, Papaya, Avocado, Mexican Sunflower, Moringa, Agathi, Subabool, Lemongrass, mint varieties, and other herbs. Community support helped expand our Avocado seedling collection and new Avocado plantations. The nursery played a central role in both orchard expansion and vegetable season planning. Abundance We emphasised the shift from “processing” to food preservation in using what the farm grows in ways that honour nutrition, flavour, and seasonality. This year, we offered a wide range of products—mango conserves, lemon marmalade, basil pesto, cashew items, herbs, brinjal spread, seasonal vegetable recipes, salad mix and so on. A new renovated workspace and a growing team allowed us to experiment more, receive valuable community feedback, and explore natural packaging for the future. We are entering the new year with the aspiration to extend as well as deepen this work. Research & Education We organised all our research projects on our website and prepared a series of courses on vegetable gardening, orchards, animals, and integral food philosophy. Research expanded across natural beekeeping (supported by a seed grant from SDZ, Netherlands), aquaponics, technology integration for irrigation, biofermentation for soil and plant applications, species identification of fruits, and production-data analysis. Most importantly, we continue to deepen our work on natural beekeeping, hive multiplication, and exploring medicinal stingless-bee honey. Previous Article Featured Articles Year-end updatesㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ 20 Dec 2025 Abundance Product of the Month 05 Dec 2025 Ayurvedic Recommendations for Winter 19 Dec 2025 Our Brewery for Plant Health 19 Dec 2025
Abundance Product of the Month
Have you tried our authentic sun-cured lemons preserved with Himalayan salt yet? They are bursting with flavours of lemons and are free from preservatives. Add them to your salads or curries to add a tangy depth. Home » Blog » Abundance Product of the Month Abundance Product of the Month December 2025 · AuroOrchard Salted & Sun-cured Lemon Have you tried our authentic sun-cured lemons preserved with Himalayan salt yet? They are bursting with flavours of lemons and are free from preservatives. Add them to your salads or curries to add a tangy depth. Order Here October 2025 Turmeric Flakes 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. Order Here September 2025 This cold pressed Coconut Oil has been made from coconuts picked from our Coconut poly-orchard with raised beds of bananas and several other plants to support the fertility of this orchard. With no preservatives added to this oil, it is a healthier alternative to the standard coconut oil available in the market. Order Here August 2025 Basil-Pesto Cashew Product Description: This pesto is rich with AuroOrchard Cashew and Basil both of which we have in abundance at the moment. We use very little oil (one-third) necessary for blending and preventing oxidation. Order Here June 01, 2025 · Anshul Aggarwal Over the last months, we have processed our fresh produce which is in abundance into a variety of products that are available directly from the farm. We hope to slowly expand this activity into a more consistent and significant part of the farm. As the consumption of Auroville produce continues to drop, we feel this is one way we can still offer Auroville grown produce to people within and outside of Auroville. Order Here Previous Article Featured Articles Abundance Product of the Month 05 Dec 2025 Monthly Updatesㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ 28 Nov 2025 Glimpses of a solar futureㅤㅤㅤㅤ 05 Dec 2025 Flow of fire and water on the farmㅤㅤ 03 Dec 2025
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
