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

A World Without Agriculture

I arrived at AuroOrchard in the summer of 2023, intending to help farms produce more food for Auroville. Mostly I wanted to be closer with people passionate about the same. Home  »  Blog  »  A World Without Agriculture A World Without Agriculture Jan 31, 2025 · Anshul Aggarwal AuroOrchard saw some great shifts in 2024 with the land exchange, the massive loss of productive orchards and infrastructure, the financial difficulties due to the orchard being leased and finally the cyclone as the year came to a close. Through the commitment of the team and encouragement and support from friends within and outside Auroville, the farm managed to (is managing to) get through these difficulties. These moments of crises have also been moments of reflection, self-assessment, even self-criticism. Mother said to Gerard, “Grow food for Auroville”. It is a simple statement but its context has changed radically. Auroville has changed, the ecosystem has changed, farming has changed, the farmers have changed. As we move towards a new chapter in AuroOrchard’s journey, we are confronted with the same simple question, ‘What does it mean to grow food for Auroville?’. Is growing 8 tonnes of Mango enough? Is growing enough for all the kitchens enough? What does agriculture of the future look like when we are hardly able to manage on the farms? When nature is pictured as abundant and generous, why are our farms always in scarcity? Farms are now being pushed to be financially sustainable. This, in my opinion, is not a bad thing. A healthy farm is not just healthy ecologically. It creates value also socially and economically. Especially if we want young people to join farming, we need agriculture solutions that can support their livelihood and can show that farming is not a profession of poverty. To address this, AuroOrchard is experimenting with new ways of diverse perennial plantations taking inspiration from Syntropic Farming (a technique developed in Brazil by Ernst Gotsch, a swiss farmer and researcher)(Gotsch, 1995). We have also been changing our poultry practices and have introduced a new breed of birds since last year which is more resistant to diseases and well-suited for free range. We continue to push the boundaries of successive planting and harvesting in our vegetable garden, always having something to offer to the community throughout the year (we consistently harvest 6 days a week from Feb-Nov and 3 days a week for Dec-Jan) . All this good work must translate into not just higher quantities of food, but better quality of food (nutrition and consciousness). All this work must translate into better incomes for the farm workers. The world population engaged in agriculture has dropped from 70% to 25% in the last 100 years. In India, the number was 75% a hundred years ago and is now down to just about 45%. Researchers conclude that our goals of development are taking us towards a ‘world without agriculture’ (Timmer, 2009) as the agricultural workforce gradually moves out from the rural landscapes towards more developed sectors of the economy. As Auroville ‘develops’, are we also moving towards an Auroville without agriculture? Who will farm here in 20 years, 40 years? Where is the new generation of farmers of Auroville? Why would anyone join farming if it cannot pay for their sustenance? This is a question in front of all the farmers.  Mother said to Gerard, “Grow food for Auroville.” Our work at AuroOrchard is not limited to growing tonnage of food. We need to find solutions to be able to continue serving the land and the community by cultivating  food of the highest quality, by cultivating farmers of the highest consciousness. These solutions will not only be ecological, but will also address the social, economic, and even personal and spiritual dimensions of agriculture. We welcome all Aurovilians, newcomers, and volunteers to join us in this exploration. 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