Reflections from Volunteersㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Our effort has been to open the space on the farm for learning agriculture as well as coming into a deeper contact with the land and oneself. We firmly believe the farm to be a site for Integral Education, with ample opportunities for development of the physical, vital, mental, spiritual, as well as the psychic. These are the reflections from some of our past volunteers showing the potential and possibilities of this work. Home  »  Blog  »  Ayurvedic Recommendations for Winter Reflections from Volunteers March 2026 · Anshul Aggarwal Our effort has been to open the space on the farm for learning agriculture as well as coming into a deeper contact with the land and oneself. We firmly believe the farm to be a site for Integral Education, with ample opportunities for development of the physical, vital, mental, spiritual, as well as the psychic. These are the reflections from some of our past volunteers showing the potential and possibilities of this work. My time at Auroorchard was a deeply valuable experience. I find it incredibly important that we spend time on the land – growing, preserving and innovating with food and Auroorchard provides that opportunity!  I found the Auroorchard to be a living lab, where people can execute projects and research that can serve the multitude of projects on the farm, from regenerative farming to cultural paradigm shifts to education.  Thanks to Anshul, Auroorchard takes a holistic approach to food farming, which is essential in both local and global food transitions that we desperately need. I hope the farm can grow, evolve and thrive for many years ahead. — Nikita Bharat, Netherlands AuroOrchard has left my heart full, thanks to the open-hearted people who work there and the mesmerizing beauty of the farm itself. It has been a true pleasure documenting the life of AuroOrchard and diving into the techniques of the natural way of farming. I feel deeply grateful for having been a part of the farm, even for a short period of time. — Taisiia Latypova, Russia I stayed at the farm for a week, and the experience truly stayed with me. I had zero background in farming, yet everyone there welcomed me with warmth and patiently taught me the basics. Every day brought a new learning — not just about farming practices, but about people, their journeys, and the stories they shared while we worked together. Even in that one week, I felt a deep connection to the people and the sense of community on the farm. It was a meaningful and memorable experience. — Sai Kiran, Andhra Pradesh, India I worked at AuroOrchard for a month, really it’s a wonderful experience to me and I gained a lot of knowledge from the farm.And now I am implementing the learnings at my place. And the people who are there are great and provided a lot to me. And everyone who is interested in farming should visit this place. — Ramesh G, Tamil Nadu, India It was amazing volunteering at AuroOrchard. Volunteering brought new learnings about farming, a nourishing breakfast and company of like minded fellows from different walks of life. Anshul used to solve my doubts and was great at doing thought experiments. Guided farm walk also helped a lot. I thoroughly enjoyed being at the farm. I saw so many birds I had not even known and made some great friends too. Thanks again for the opportunity ! — Abhijeet Kulkarni, Maharashtra, India It’s a simple truth that AuroOrchard made me feel far more deeply than I ever had before. My weeks at AuroOrchard showed me how every role, no matter how small or humble, becomes meaningful when directed toward a shared purpose: growing food for the community in the most natural and conscious way possible. During my stay, I listened to locals, Aurovilians, volunteers, travellers and tourists. Everyone carried a fragment of the larger story: a story shaped by the vision of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo, rooted in inner evolution, collective harmony, and the aspiration to manifest a more conscious world. Auroville itself is built on this experiment of human unity, and AuroOrchard reflects that ideal in the soil, the sweat, and the spirit of everyday work. The people I met now long-standing acquaintances and friends were bound not by background but by shared values. Together we watched sunrises on days that began in quiet reflection and sunsets that carried the satisfaction of honest labour. Even the pre-monsoon showers felt like a blessing, softening the earth we were working to nurture. We weeded, mulched, composted, pruned Malabar spinach. Simple tasks, yet profoundly grounding. Anshul’s guidance, the helpfulness of every volunteer and worker contributed in their own way. And that’s the beauty of the place: there is space for all, for every profession, every stage of life, every wandering soul seeking meaning or direction. Volunteering here isn’t just service; it is a form of education. You learn what it truly takes to bring food to a table. You learn to value every grain, every leaf, and the labour behind it. You learn the quiet art of not wasting. You learn the power of a community that gives because giving is part of living. Not everyone can give time, not everyone can give resources—but each of us can give something. And each offering, however small, helps sustain spaces like AuroOrchard spaces that heal the earth, and in many ways, heal us too. If you ever wish to reconnect with the essentials nature, community, purpose let Auroville hold you for a while. And let AuroOrchard put your hands back into the soil. It has a way of changing you, gently, irrevocably. — Rashmika Rajaram, Karnataka, India AuroOrchard means everything to us because it’s where we met. Living together for a love of health, AuroOrchard couldn’t have been a more profound farm to put our feet, hands, heart & mind in all things Nature. With Anshul at the helm and incredibly kindred volunteer souls, this place is

Certified Humane International program …

We have been working on this certification for the last 6 months, and our poultry has gone through significant improvements with support from a wonderful pool of resource people who deeply care about ethics of animal care in agriculture. This ce Home  »  Blog  »  Certified Humane International program for the Poultry Certified Humane International program for the Poultry March 2026 · Anshul Aggarwal AuroOrchard has just completed the certification process of the Certified Humane International (CHI) program. We have been working on this certification for the last 6 months, and our poultry has gone through significant improvements with support from a wonderful pool of resource people who deeply care about ethics of animal care in agriculture. This certification is quite stringent with a great deal of paperwork, in-person inspection and annual audits. The CHI standards are quite extensive and detailed and have given us a strong foundation and reference to build on. You can read more about CHI standards here. This process has also helped us know more about the conversation on ethical poultry farming in the world, and how different farmers around the world are practicing this in their own ways based on their context and resources.  While the certificate in itself is not a big achievement,  it affirms our commitment to an unending pursuit of growing the highest quality food for Auroville. Our sincere gratitude to our wonderful community for their support and encouragement in doing this work.   You can find some answers to common questions on AuroOrchard eggs here. Previous Article Featured Articles Monthly Updatesㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ 25 Mar 2026 Year-end updatesㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ 20 Dec 2025 Certified Humane International program … 27 Mar 2026 Time to Summernate: Ayurveda Healthy Tips by 26 Mar 2026

Food Sovereignty and Seeds of AuroOrchard

Since the Second World War, the agriculture paradigm has shifted dramatically to keep pace with the evolving industrial and economic paradigms. The culture of mono-cropping has grown on some ill-found assumptions and hard realities of the changing social structures in farming communities. As much as monoculture is believed to be the only way to produce high-yields, and a dominant solution to feeding the world, it is also easier for farmers who have no option than to resort to mechanization due to lack of hands working on the fields. The farmers who lack the resources to buy machines or employ family members on the farm suffer the most. However, despite the illusory success of turning large acres of land into monocrop systems, the inequity in food distribution couldn’t have been higher than ever. As per studies done in recent times, collectively we grow food already for about 10 billion people (calorie equivalence) but over a third of this food is wasted while harvesting, storing, shipping and so forth (Holt-Giménez et al., 2012). Home  »  Blog  »  Food Sovereignty and Seeds of AuroOrchard Food Sovereignty and Seeds of AuroOrchard March 2026 · Anshul Aggarwal​ Since the Second World War, the agriculture paradigm has shifted dramatically to keep pace with the evolving industrial and economic paradigms. The culture of mono-cropping has grown on some ill-found assumptions and hard realities of the changing social structures in farming communities. As much as monoculture is believed to be the only way to produce high-yields, and a dominant solution to feeding the world, it is also easier for farmers who have no option than to resort to mechanization due to lack of hands working on the fields. The farmers who lack the resources to buy machines or employ family members on the farm suffer the most. However, despite the illusory success of turning large acres of land into monocrop systems, the inequity in food distribution couldn’t have been higher than ever. As per studies done in recent times, collectively we grow food already for about 10 billion people (calorie equivalence) but over a third of this food is wasted while harvesting, storing, shipping and so forth (Holt-Giménez et al., 2012). Small farms feed the world Interestingly, over 70% of the food that we end up eating, still comes from small-farms (25 acres or less) managed by communities and families for subsistence, and not from large mechanized monocrop systems as we are made to believe. Also small farms have been found to be 4-5 times more productive than large farms because of their intensive diverse cropping integrated with animal rearing(Lerman & Sutton, 2008; Small farmers feed the world, Grain, 2014). We do have enough food to feed the planet and almost three quarters of it comes from small farms. So where does large scale industrial agriculture fit in this story and how can it help if production is not really the primary challenge? The industrialization of agriculture has led to large scale disempowerment of small farmers, degraded rural lands and culture and polluted our soil, water and air and the poor stay hungry no matter how much more food is produced on this planet. Our overwhelming stress on strategies and policies to feed the world are focused only on producing more food. But we forget that this also means more food of a certain quality.  As the world wakes up to appreciate the subtle nuances of relationships of humans with nature, other humans and themselves, the subtle qualities of food and their relationship with human health must also be considered. Cheap food does not mean good food and as a global collective, feeding the world population is rather an insufficient objective. That all on this planet should have access to clean and wholesome food is an idea worth living and fighting for, and large scale industrial agriculture has very little to offer in this regard. The solution of lack of access could lie in decentralization and localization of production and distribution. But the road ahead is difficult, especially for small farmers. Changing climatic patterns and a demand from consumers of non-seasonal, non-local produce due to changes in diet preferences, loss of knowledge of using traditional and local foods along with loss of traditional seed varieties due to lack of skill and subsidies on hybrid seeds has led to a loss in agricultural biodiversity and a degradation of local food systems. As a result farmers have had to grow food based on the lopsided market demands and economic incentives. This trend is, of course, changing slowly and research and experimentation in rediscovering a balance of natural farming in the current ecological and social paradigms is emerging both on the fields and within the new food distribution enterprises.  Human role in agro-bio-diversity One of the aspects of re-discovering this balance and re-establishing the lost relationship with the land is letting go of our conceptions of order and monocultures towards revitalising the biodiversity in our ecosystems. Since human impact has surpassed that of all others, we have been shaping the evolutionary process of biodiversification, consciously and unconsciously. Our very existence has a definite impact and our role in the ecosystem implores us to walk, work, eat and modify our environment for survival. Yet, in the last few centuries or even since agriculture began thousands of years ago, our impact on our environment has been steadily increasing as we slowly seem to be losing track of what is important and are moving from modification to exploitation. Communities based on land and in forests have evolved with their ecosystems since millennia. They themselves have been a part of the biodiversity of the land. Not only have humans evolved within the ecosystems, they have also contributed in protecting and furthering the evolution of these systems. The Amazon forests, which are now being referred to as the oldest food forests, are the perfect example of how human culture can support and enhance biodiversity and create a synthesis of wild and humanized ecosystems (Panko, 2023;

Frequently Asked Questions about Eggs

Previously, I wrote about the dilemmas of working with animals in agriculture, emphasising that the question is not so much whether to work with animals, but how to do so responsibly. Our poultry raises many of these questions, and none of them have simple or fixed answers. We are discovering what is possible today, while also reflecting on what the ideal might be for animals in agriculture in Auroville. Home  »  Blog  »  Frequently Asked Questions about Eggs from AuroOrchard Frequently Asked Questions about Eggs from AuroOrchard February 2026 · Anshul Aggarwal​ Previously, I wrote about the dilemmas of working with animals in agriculture, emphasising that the question is not so much whether to work with animals, but how to do so responsibly. Our poultry raises many of these questions, and none of them have simple or fixed answers. We are discovering what is possible today, while also reflecting on what the ideal might be for animals in agriculture in Auroville. This post responds to questions we have received over time from community members and visitors about our poultry and eggs. If you have further questions, please write to us at auroorchard@auroville.org.in, and we will include them here. What do terms like caged, cage-free, and free-range mean? These terms describe how birds live: Caged systems keep birds in small cages with very limited movement. Cage-free systems remove individual cages but usually keep birds indoors in large sheds. Free-range systems, like ours, allow birds regular outdoor access where they can walk, forage, scratch, and dust-bathe in sunlight and fresh air. Each system reflects different priorities— efficiency, space, labour, and care. How is free-range different from organic? Free-range describes how birds live (access to outdoor space, ability to forage and express natural behaviours). Organic describes what goes into the system, especially feed and inputs. In most organic standards, birds must also have outdoor access, but “free-range” eggs are not necessarily organic unless the feed and inputs meet organic requirements. What kind of poultry system does AuroOrchard follow? AuroOrchard follows a free-range, pasture-based approach integrated with the orchard. Birds live outdoors for much of the day and are rotated through designated areas. Poultry is part of the farm ecology, contributing to nutrient cycling, composting, and soil health, and is not treated as a standalone “production unit”. What is the origin of the concept of ‘free-range’? Traditional agricultural communities naturally followed the free-range poultry system where chickens ran around the yards around the house. This changed drastically across the world as agricultural production became more organised, mechanised, and industrialised. The modern concept of “free-range” arose in the mid-20th century after the Second World War, particularly in the United States and Europe, as poultry farming became industrialised and egg and meat production shifted toward: Battery cages Indoor confinement High stocking densities Controlled lighting and feed Maximum output per bird These systems prioritised efficiency over natural behaviour. “Free-range” developed as a counter-term, meant to distinguish birds that were not permanently confined indoors or in cages,  for regulatory and marketing distinction. As a regulatory and market label, “free-range” generally means: The hens are not kept in cages or indoor confinement.  They have access to  space to roam, graze, and engage freely with their environment having a greater contact with sunlight, fresh air, and soil. Free-range systems promote: Behavioural freedom and enrichment (Hartcher & Jones, 2017) Because these birds live as birds should, many community members report a richer flavour than the ones produced in factory conditions (Comparison of AuroOrchard eggs with Pondy eggs). What free-range standards does AuroOrchard follow? We follow Certified Humane standards, which are among the most comprehensive and widely-recognised animal welfare standards for laying hens globally, and we undergo annual audits. AuroOrchard (per 100 birds) Certified Humane Standard (per 100 birds) Indoor Space 15 sq. m. 14 sq. m. Outdoor Space 200 sq, m. 19 sq. m. Outdoor time 6 hours (10 am to 4 pm) 6 hours Indoor Perching Space 17 m 15 m Nesting area 2 sq. m. 0.8 sq. m. Feeder space 4 m 4 m Drinker space 2 m 2 m Other specific details about lighting, daily care, biosecurity, record maintenance for better follow up, egg collection and sorting standards etc. can be found here. What do the birds eat? The birds have access to a feeder where they can eat anytime during the day. The feeder is refilled twice a day in the morning and the afternoon. This feed is bought from commercial feed suppliers. We have tried to get the exact composition of the feed but none of the feed suppliers give this information. Instead, they have given us a general nutritional profile: Crude Protein: 16–18% Crude Fat: 2.5–5%Crude Fibre: 4–7% Metabolizable Energy: 2,600–2,800 kcal/kgCalcium: 3.5–4.5%Available Phosphorus: 0.35–0.50 The supplier has also assured us that the  feed is free from any avian- or mammalian-derived protein, and any growth promoters and sub-therapeutic antibiotics.  In addition, the birds are also fed daily with a diversity of green leaves (Moringa, Papaya, Wild Tamarind etc.). The birds also eat wild grasses, worms and everything else that they forage in the free range. Why doesn’t AuroOrchard produce its own poultry feed? While this would be ideal, AuroOrchard doesn’t grow grains and does not have the right soil conditions and is set up to do so. If we buy grains from other farms, the feed cost will be very high and will immediately affect the price of the egg. We have been exploring (without much success though) if we can get someone to make the feed for us so that we can ensure what exactly goes into the feed. Are AuroOrchard eggs organic? No. We do not claim that the eggs are organic. Since the feed is bought from outside and we have no way to say with 100% certainty that this feed is organic, we cannot say that the eggs are organic. Most likely, the grains used by commercial feed suppliers are grown in the so-called conventional manner. Are antibiotics or hormones used?

Experiments with Faulkner’s Method …

AuroOrchard soil is red sandy loam with very low baseline organic carbon (~0.2%). Whatever organic matter we add decomposes rapidly under heat, termites, and rain. Unless we keep feeding the soil, the carbon disappears. This challenge is not only ecological but also practical. Raised beds, which we also practice, protect soils well — but they demand immense labour to establish and maintain. With today’s scarcity of farm workers, scaling raised beds across large areas is difficult. Home  »  Blog  » Experiments with Faulkner’s Method of Shallow Ploughing Experiments with Faulkner’s Method of Shallow Ploughing January 2026 · Anshul Aggarwal​ AuroOrchard soil is red sandy loam with very low baseline organic carbon (~0.2%). Whatever organic matter we add decomposes rapidly under heat, termites, and rain. Unless we keep feeding the soil, the carbon disappears. This challenge is not only ecological but also practical. Raised beds, which we also practice, protect soils well — but they demand immense labour to establish and maintain. With today’s scarcity of farm workers, scaling raised beds across large areas is difficult. In 2022, we came across the work of American agronomist Edward H. Faulkner, who advocated for shallow soil disturbance with a tractorised disc harrow. This paper describes our trials with this approach. Treading lightly with machines Mechanisation in Indian farming is often debated in absolutes: either as the culprit of soil degradation or as the saviour of productivity. On the one hand, mechanisation is unavoidable. With rural labour scarce and costly, even small farms depend on machines. On the other hand, not all mechanisation is equal. Large rototillers dig deep, pulverise soils, and burn fuel. They are unsuited to fragile sandy soils where organic matter is easily oxidised and lost. Our guiding question was whether we could use the tractor differently, in a way that it helps build soil structure rather than breaking it. Faulkner (1943) wrote in his Ploughman’s Folly: “No one has ever advanced a scientific reason for plowing… The sole reason for plowing is tradition.” Faulkner suggested that shallow stirring, not deep inversion, keeps soil fertile. And this is where the disc harrow comes into the picture. The disc harrow makes it possible to cut at 3–5 inches, slicing biomass without inverting the soil. The result is that the surface residues remain, decomposition is encouraged, and deeper horizons are undisturbed. The outcome is dramatically different from that of a roto-tiller, which has become ubiquitous now. Reconciling the ideal of no-till Globally, conservation agriculture promotes no-till, leaving soils undisturbed and residues on the surface. While effective in temperate soils, its results are mixed in sandy tropical contexts. Meta-analyses (Ogle et al., 2019) and sandy-soil trials (Wang et al., 2025) show that no-till does not automatically raise soil carbon in these contexts unless there is abundant residue input. Residues on the surface often decompose or disappear too quickly, leaving little trace for the following crop. Brazilian research confirms that in sandy soils, no-till only works when combined with continuous cover cropping to sustain organic inputs (Silva et al., 2024). Our practice of shallow disc-harrowing is not a rejection of no-till. We disturb only the top 5 inches, just enough to fold residues into the biologically active layer, while still protecting deeper horizons. In other words, we are guided by the same principle—minimise disturbance while maximising residue cover—but adapt it to the faster carbon cycle of sandy tropical soils. Cover Crops and Organic Matter Cycling We paired the disc harrow with cultivating cover crops — Sunnhemp (Crotalaria juncea) and Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) and developed two methods: Surface ploughing: Residues are chopped and left on the soil. Within three weeks, termites, worms and microbes reduce them to humus. This was done when the field can be left on its own for a while before planting. Shallow incorporation (~5 inches): Biomass is lightly mixed into the topsoil, speeding decomposition and providing a fertility “pulse” for crops. This was done when planting was urgent and a faster decomposition was required. Both methods reduced weeds, conserved moisture, and returned organic matter to the soil. Studies confirm that tropical soils, especially sandy ones, lose organic matter quickly. Adekiya et al. (2023) have concluded in their research that: “tropical soils are characterized by rapid decomposition of organic matter, leading to relatively low levels of soil organic carbon.” Our shallow disc harrow practice seems to strike a balance: speeding up decomposition enough to feed the soil, while avoiding deep inversion that accelerates carbon loss. Our first trials We tested this approach on a 0.5 acre field which had not been cultivated for over three years. It was full of wild grasses and cows would frequent it for grazing. We grew two cycles of biomass-one legume and one cereal and incorporated them in the soil with shallow discing. This entire process took about six months. We harvested 4 tonnes of sweet potato from this field after five months of planting. Local averages are about 5–6 tonnes per acre, so our yield was significantly higher per unit area. Of course, yields depend on many factors, but this result raised the possibility that shallow incorporation can improve both fertility and productivity. Research from northeast Thailand shows that even a 1 g/kg increase in SOC can boost yields by ~300 kg/ha in rice (Arunrat et al., 2020). While soils and crops differ, the principle is the same: small gains in SOC can translate into meaningful yield improvements in sandy soils. The most surprising allies were termites. After surface ploughing, termite galleries appeared quickly, pulling residues into the soil. Within weeks, what looked like rough mulch became humus. Earthworms followed, leaving casts across the field. The social aspect of mechanisation We also maintain over fifty raised beds (30 sq. m. each) managed under no-till. These systems protect organic matter well, but they require a lot of human labour to maintain, especially for weeding. With today’s scarcity of farm workers, scaling raised beds to larger areas is difficult. This work is physically demanding, and we observe less

Gratitude for all the love through the AVI USA Fundraising Campaign, December 2025

In November last year, we put out a call for fundraising towards infrastructure development and repair, investment in food preservation, and creating accommodation for long term volunteers. We were heartened to receive 4230 USD in donations and 2500 from AVI USA to match the funds, totalling to 6730 USD. More than the money, we really appreciated the messages of encouragement and support pouring in from across the world. Home  »  Blog  » Gratitude for all the love through the AVI USA Fundraising Campaign, December 2025 Gratitude for all the love through the AVI USA Fundraising Campaign, December 2025 January 2026 · Anshul Aggarwal In November last year, we put out a call for fundraising towards infrastructure development and repair, investment in food preservation, and creating accommodation for long term volunteers. We were heartened to receive 4230 USD in donations and 2500 from AVI USA to match the funds, totalling to 6730 USD. More than the money, we really appreciated the messages of encouragement and support pouring in from across the world. We thank all of you who donated generously towards the work of the farm and who helped during this campaign. Thanks to AVI USA team for organising this. Our call for fundraising:https://auroorchard.auroville.org/help-us-raise-funds-for-2026/ Report on utilisation of funds in 2025:https://auroorchard.auroville.org/report-on-fund-utilisation-from-avi-usa-matching-campaign-2024/ Previous ArticleNext Article Featured Articles Monthly Updatesㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ 29 Jan 2026 Year-end updatesㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ 20 Dec 2025 Conscious Technology Lab Update 30 Jan 2026 Eating for Nourishment or Habit: A personal … 30 Jan 2026

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

Our Brewery for Plant Health

There is a common myth that imbalances in insect populations will disappear if agricultural systems are brought “back into balance.” This assumption rests on the idea that agriculture itself is a balanced ecosystem, which is fundamentally incorrect. Agricultural systems—even in their most natural forms—are human-designed systems, shaped by human needs, diets, and production goals. Home  »  Blog  »  Our Brewery for Plant Health Our Brewery for Plant Health December 2025 · Anshul Aggarwal There is a common myth that imbalances in insect populations will disappear if agricultural systems are brought “back into balance.” This assumption rests on the idea that agriculture itself is a balanced ecosystem, which is fundamentally incorrect. Agricultural systems—even in their most natural forms—are human-designed systems, shaped by human needs, diets, and production goals. While diversification and ecological practices can reduce the severity of pest outbreaks, they cannot eliminate them. Modern agriculture, which serves diets limited to a relatively small range of vegetables and fruits, necessarily restricts the diversity that can be accommodated on the farm. In this sense, persistent insect pressure is an inherent feature of agriculture. It cannot be completely resolved, only moderated through careful and continuous management (Oerke, 2005). Moreover, pest pressure today is shaped not only by on-farm diversity, but by the biology of the larger landscape and by changing climatic conditions. Research in agroecology and landscape ecology helps explain why pest pressure can remain high even in diversified farms. Studies show that while ecological practices like crop diversification and habitat enhancement can increase populations of natural enemies, they do not always translate into consistent pest suppression in every field because pest regulation depends strongly on landscape context and habitat structure beyond the farm boundary. For example, natural pest control tends to be stronger in complex, patchy landscapes, with abundant non-crop habitats that support predators and parasitoids, but this effect varies and is not guaranteed (Bianchi et al., 2006; Poveda et al., 2025). Another important limitation of ecological pest regulation lies in the difference between ecological and agricultural time scales. Predator–prey relationships, soil food webs, and habitat-based regulation often require many years to stabilise, whereas farms operate on seasonal cycles that demand immediate outcomes. Farmers must harvest crops within weeks or months, not decades. This temporal mismatch means that even ecologically well-designed farms often need active interventions to bridge the gap between long-term ecological recovery and short-term production needs. In our own production analyses, we found that we lose around 30% of certain crops due to insect damage. These include borers, mealybugs, hoppers, and beetles on brinjal; aphids on long beans; blister beetles on lady fingers and beans; and red gourd beetles on pumpkins, cucumbers, and other gourds—despite years of intercropping, flowering hedges, and multi-layered cropping systems. To prevent severe losses, we have so far relied on neem oil sprays and commercially available biopesticides such as Beauveria bassiana (a fungus) and Bacillus thuringiensis (a bacterium). While effective to a degree, these are purchased inputs. We have therefore been exploring more diverse, farm-made preparations such as Themmor Karaisal, Panchagavya, and fermented leaf extracts using plants like Calotropis, Adhatoda, castor, and moonflower—though not yet with full consistency. Our goal has never been a complete elimination of insects, but the cultivation of systems capable of tolerating a certain level of damage without catastrophic crop loss. So far, we have accepted around 30% as the fair share, our contribution to the ecology, the tax the farmer pays to the land for setting up agriculture. However, given the precarious financial situation on the farm as well as the pressure to deliver more food for the community, we are forced to re-assess if some of these losses can be avoided without damaging the ecosystem. Recently, we met the Aarka team (Elen and Shankar), who have developed formulations aimed at rebuilding functional ecological relationships that were historically embedded in farming systems, though under very different population, climatic, and landscape conditions. Their herbal preparation, Aarka, can be applied in dilution and combined with other ferments—such as oil mixes, fish amino acids, and Themmor Karaisal—for foliar sprays to reduce fungal, bacterial, and insect pressure. These bioferments not only prevent “pests” but also deliver essential herb compounds and micronutrients to the plants, strengthening them and building their own capacity to deal with biological pressures. We organised an afternoon of preparing these different formulations together with our team and developed a plan to use them more consistently, as part of an ongoing effort to reduce crop losses while working within the ecological limits of contemporary agriculture. Our brewery now consists of the following ferments: Aarka solution fermented with sugars and proteins Jeevamrit (fermented mix of cow dung and urine) Panchagavya (fermented mix of the five gifts from the cow–dung, urine, milk, curd, ghee) Themmor Karaisal (fermented mix of curd and coconut milk) Oil concoction (Castor, Mahua, Pongam and Neem oils) Fish amino acids (fish waste fermented with banana) Biopotash solution (ash in rainwater) In the coming days, weeks and months, we aim to consistently inoculate our soil and plant ecology with these ferments and observe the response in terms of plant health and productivity. There is a common myth that imbalances in insect populations will disappear if agricultural systems are brought “back into balance.” This assumption rests on the idea that agriculture itself is a balanced ecosystem, which is fundamentally incorrect. Agricultural systems—even in their most natural forms—are human-designed systems, shaped by human needs, diets, and production goals. While diversification and ecological practices can reduce the severity of pest outbreaks, they cannot eliminate them. Modern agriculture, which serves diets limited to a relatively small range of vegetables and fruits, necessarily restricts the diversity that can be accommodated on the farm. In this sense, persistent insect pressure is an inherent feature of agriculture. It cannot be completely resolved, only moderated through careful and continuous management (Oerke, 2005). Moreover, pest pressure today is shaped not only by on-farm diversity, but by the biology of the larger landscape and by changing climatic conditions. Research in agroecology

The Lost Generation of Farmers

In Tamil Nadu, farm workers (cultivators and labourers) have dropped from ~62% of the total workforce in the state in 1981 to ~41% in 2001, and in a more recent study from 40% in 2012 to 22% in 2022 Home  »  Blog  »  The Lost Generation of Farmers The Lost Generation of Farmers December 2025 · Anshul Aggarwal “However they roam, the world must follow still the plougher’s team; Though toilsome, culture of the ground as noblest toil esteem.” — Thirukural | v. 1031 In Tamil Nadu, farm workers (cultivators and labourers) have dropped from ~62% of the total workforce in the state in 1981 to ~41% in 2001, and in a more recent study from 40% in 2012 to 22% in 2022 (Vijayabaskar, 2017; Gunasekar, 2025). The number keeps declining and is only representative of the same trend across the country and the world . The causes are complex and range from fragmentation of land leaving farming unviable on small lands (95% of farmers have land less than 5 acres), heavy work load, indebtedness, discrimination, lack of welfare schemes or accessibility and better paying opportunities as urban labour (Gunasekar, 2025). The National Sample Survey of 2005 reported that 40% of the farmers did not like farming and were of the opinion that, given a choice, they would take up some other career. 27% found it ‘not profitable’, another 8% reported that it is ‘risky’ and another 5% did not like it for ‘other reasons’.  Research also shows that about 45 farmers commit suicide in India every day with an increase of 2.5% every year (Nagraj et al., 2014). These numbers are highly conservative as farmer deaths remain under-reported and farmers who do not own land, especially women and children are excluded (Haluwalia, 2025). The reasons again are complex ranging from socio-cultural, financial and psychological. Thus, youth is being lost from agriculture to the increasing urbanisation, we are also slowly bleeding out the existing farmers.  Scholars have imagined this culmination of this shift into a “post-agrarian” state, a state of transition from agricultural sector to the manufacturing and service sector (Vijayabaskar, 2017) – eventually, a world without agriculture.  In a recent article, Torero, the Chief Economist of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, points out the declining number of people involved in agriculture, the rising median age of the current farming populations and the lack of job opportunities for young people. His thesis is that agriculture is more than just “growing food” and that young people can be lured into agriculture through tech-startups, supply chain solutions and so on. There is also a general sense amongst agrarian scholars that creating jobs in the urban sector will lead to social emancipation of agriculture workers. They largely suggest that as long as rural youth find quality jobs outside of the farms, the state would have exercised good political and social intervention. While this is appreciated, it still doesn’t answer the fundamental question- what agriculture can we have in the next fifty years if there are no farmers at all?– the farmers who are involved in “growing food”. Who will grow food in the coming decades if the post-agrarian paradigm was to be fully realised and leaves a vacuum in rural life and agricultural work? How can social, cultural and spiritual skills be reproduced that make the very foundation of agriculture? This story is even more stark in Auroville, where we aspire to be self-sufficient through karma yoga and spiritual realisation in material work. Out of the 2665 adult Aurovilians (Census 2025), only 49 are farming, and this includes part-time farmers as well. That’s less than 2% of Aurovilians working on the farms–1 Aurovilian farmer for 55 Aurovilians. This number is also one-third of the number of labour hired from the villages around Auroville for permanent or seasonal farmwork (around 140 people). We have outsourced our difficult work to the villages for cheaper labour while we engage in ‘higher’ pursuits of a spiritualised community. We must acknowledge that we are not only far from self-sufficiency in terms of food quantities, but also in terms of work despite the fact that the community keeps growing. Moreover, the median age of the existing farmers is rising with only a few young Aurovilians involved. So, where is the next generation of farmers of Auroville? And how can we even expect to have young people join the farms when the perception of farming is that of a ‘profession of poverty’, constant battle with wildlife, lack of acknowledgement for Auroville grown food within the community and a growing mistrust and lack of support (financial and otherwise) from the Auroville governance for farmers? In the last two years, AuroOrchard has made a deliberate effort to welcome new volunteers, newcomers and young Aurovilians on the farm by offering them an opportunity for different kinds of works (field work–vegetables, orchards, harvesting, cooking, food preservation, documentation, research, education). We now have 7 newcomers on the farm, learning about farming and helping us build a new team for the future. All these newcomers are supported directly by the farm with no support from the central fund. This puts a lot of financial pressure on the farm and restricts us from taking more young people and engaging them in meaningful work as they embark on their journey in Auroville. To support a new generation of farmers, we have started diversifying our income through preserved products from the farm and educational programs. And yet, this is not enough. This year, we are raising funds to support this young team. Additionally, we are trying to reason with the Auroville governance that this is worth investing in–for engaging newcomers as well as supporting one of the most crucial activities for sustenance and growth- growing food. We need a radical reorientation of our policy for the farms, which also means giving up all the neoliberal and capitalist measures that seem to have completely overtaken all aspects of Auroville’s work. Agriculture will need to be

The Dilemma of Animals in Agriculture

We would not need to go hunting for our connection to our food and the web of life that produces it. We would no longer need any reminding that we eat by the grace of nature, not industry, and that what we’re eating is never anything more or less than the body of Home  »  Blog  »  The Dilemma of Animals in Agriculture The Dilemma of Animals in Agriculture December 2025 · Anshul Aggarwal “We would not need to go hunting for our connection to our food and the web of life that produces it. We would no longer need any reminding that we eat by the grace of nature, not industry, and that what we’re eating is never anything more or less than the body of the world. I don’t want to have to forage every meal.” — Pollan, M., The omnivore’s dilemma: A natural history of four meals (2006), p. 378 According to analyses by the Sentience Institute (USA), over 90% of farmed animals globally are living in inhumane facilities known as “factory farms” at present. The intensive confinement of animals on these farms leads to a range of psychological and physical health problems, and many of these animals endure painful deaths on account of health complications caused by their breeding or environment. Some animals are debeaked, castrated, or mutilated in other ways without anesthesia. The stunning methods used to knock some animals unconscious before slaughter fail regularly, and errors on industrial slaughter lines result in atrocities such as nearly one million birds being boiled alive every year. Nearly all fish die by being painfully suffocated and crushed by other fish in nets that pull them out of the water. Of all land animals in factory farms, over 60% are chickens raised for meat, about 30% are chickens raised for eggs and about 10% are cattle, sheep and pigs.  Large international surveys indicate that the vast majority of the global population— approximately 86–92% — consumes meat or other animal-based foods with only a small share identifying as vegetarian or vegan (Statista (2023); Ipsos (2018)). Global meat production has more than doubled since 1961 (OWD) and animal based protein makes up about 20% of the global diet (OWD). In a world where global demand for animal protein seems to be rising (OECD-FAO, (2025)), how can we reconcile the massive impact that animal farming has on animals as well as on our ecology and environment? Scientific evidence shows that humans started settling down as agricultural civilisations over ten thousand years ago. This move represents an important change for humanity from the wilderness of nature to an intentional participation with nature. It marks a separation of humanity from the forests, pointing to a self-discovery within the collective context of a polis. And animals like chickens, sheep, goats, cows and horses followed the humans into this agricultural polis–they became domesticated. What emerged was not merely a technical shift in food production, but a deep transformation in the human–animal relationship. For instance, the horse and the cow, especially in the Indian culture, represent power and knowledge respectively, the symbols of human evolution from the unconscious vital towards a great consciousness of self-reflexivity. They become important symbols of vedic rituals as well as metaphors of self-transcendence. Humans and animals have, therefore, shared a long domestic relationship of mutual interchange in the form of care and food, as well as a deep spiritual kinship. However, as agriculture becomes industrialised, this relationship of care has turned into a relationship of extraction–beings have turned into resources– only to be exploited for human consumption. Today, amidst multiple schools of farming and food possibilities, the farmers face the following challenges: “We would not need to go hunting for our connection to our food and the web of life that produces it. We would no longer need any reminding that we eat by the grace of nature, not industry, and that what we’re eating is never anything more or less than the body of the world. I don’t want to have to forage every meal.” — Pollan, M., The omnivore’s dilemma: A natural history of four meals (2006), p. 378 According to analyses by the Sentience Institute (USA), over 90% of farmed animals globally are living in inhumane facilities known as “factory farms” at present. The intensive confinement of animals on these farms leads to a range of psychological and physical health problems, and many of these animals endure painful deaths on account of health complications caused by their breeding or environment. Some animals are debeaked, castrated, or mutilated in other ways without anesthesia. The stunning methods used to knock some animals unconscious before slaughter fail regularly, and errors on industrial slaughter lines result in atrocities such as nearly one million birds being boiled alive every year. Nearly all fish die by being painfully suffocated and crushed by other fish in nets that pull them out of the water. Of all land animals in factory farms, over 60% are chickens raised for meat, about 30% are chickens raised for eggs and about 10% are cattle, sheep and pigs.  Large international surveys indicate that the vast majority of the global population— approximately 86–92% — consumes meat or other animal-based foods with only a small share identifying as vegetarian or vegan (Statista (2023); Ipsos (2018)). Global meat production has more than doubled since 1961 (OWD) and animal based protein makes up about 20% of the global diet (OWD). In a world where global demand for animal protein seems to be rising (OECD-FAO, (2025)), how can we reconcile the massive impact that animal farming has on animals as well as on our ecology and environment? Scientific evidence shows that humans started settling down as agricultural civilisations over ten thousand years ago. This move represents an important change for humanity from the wilderness of nature to an intentional participation with nature. It marks a separation of humanity from the forests, pointing to a self-discovery within the collective context of a polis. And animals