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
Glimpses of a solar futureㅤㅤㅤㅤ
In the Sāṃkhya school of Indian philosophy, the unfolding of matter from spirit gives rise to the senses and to the five elemental manifestations of the material world. From space, emerges air, the principle of movement, and fire, the principle of transformation. Then comes water, carrying flow, continuity, and the subtle pulsations of energy through matter. From the settling of this movement is born earth, the solid ground where life takes form and rests in its full potential. Home » Blog » Glimpses of a solar future Glimpses of a solar future December 2025 · Fabius It all started with 0.1 acres of solar panels. We knew that energy demand would rise and become more and more important.The whole world was trying to find alternative sources of energy and society was slowly changing old systems in order to welcome a new era of electrical abundance. The main source? Sun.All forms of energy come from the Sun. Petrol, coal, wind, water, humans, all dependent and born from the stars. Technology has been trying to mimic the nuclear fusion process of our nearest star but why not just rely on the main source? The Sun delivers radiation of light and we were just converting a tiny fraction of it. It was upon these reflections that a small group of farmers and pioneers started to put into practice the theory by using the land of a farm called “AuroOrchard”, in Auroville, Tamil Nadu, India. It was 2026 when 0.1 acres were smartly covered by solar panels.Solar panels were installed to a height that made agriculture possible under them, the technique was called “agrivoltaics”.The same soil was not only used to embrace the radiations of the Sun and convert them into electricity, it was also hosting the seeds of different plants who were enjoying the shadow, especially during the increasingly hot summers. The 0.1-acre pilot included salt batteries, accumulators that provided eco-friendly and safe alternatives to traditional lithium batteries. Salt, sodium chloride were easily accessible from the nearby ocean. After one year of positive testing and calculations, in 2027, different refrigerators were installed in order to preserve the food, reduce the waste and increase the quality. Encouraged by bountiful harvests and energy surplus, AuroOrchard expanded its vision. Indoor vertical farms emerged in small geodesic domes, employing advanced hydroponic and aeroponic systems under carefully tuned LED lights, sound frequencies lullabied the emerging sprouts. A year-round cultivation of fruits and vegetables, resilient even to extreme weather, became reality. In 2030 AuroOrchard was becoming a beautiful model where technology, nature and spirituality started to harmoniously blend together. Traditional Tamil farming wisdom blended effortlessly with cutting-edge science, inspiring visitors worldwide. Farming started to become more than survival. It was the art to survive, research and thrive especially in hostile conditions. Some aeroengineers started to visit the farm in order to be inspired for their space travels, communities from all over the world were able to access the open sourced projects and implement them in their own land, a new hub was silently growing like the seeds under the crystalline silicon-perovskite cells of the solar panels. Plants began serving new functions beyond nourishment. Researchers developed bio-computing methods using plant neurobiology, harnessing their natural electrical signaling to perform computational tasks and data storage within living systems. In 2040, AuroOrchard’s research deepened into plant consciousness and healing powers. Experiments revealed how plants’ subtle energetic fields could positively influence human well-being, offering complementary pathways toward health through presence and interaction. A whole community was thriving thanks to the farm, which, like a generous mother, provided food, energy, protection, inspiration and unconditional love. It just started with 0.1 acres of solar panels. Previous Article Featured Articles Monthly Updatesㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ 28 Nov 2025 Abundance Product of the Month 22 Oct 2025 Glimpses of a solar futureㅤㅤㅤㅤ 05 Dec 2025 Flow of fire and water on the farmㅤㅤ 03 Dec 2025
Hands-On Approachㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
But you can truly learn when your feet and hands are on the field. The greatest knowledge is that which is applied to daily life. Home » Blog » Hands-On Approach Hands-On Approach 25 November 2025 · Fabio Karlino “Nowadays everyone could become (intellectually) a farmer.We have books, schools, courses, youtube videos …”But you can truly learn when your feet and hands are on the field.The greatest knowledge is that which is applied to daily life. And this happens in AuroOrchard.Ideas are welcome, brainstorming is magnificent, vision is encouraged.But let’s start from the ground, let’s start talking with naturebecause farming is a conversation with nature and with ourselves. First, as humans, we should grow discipline in the orchard of our good habits.The discipline to be constant, be patient and wait for the seedsthat we’ve planted with love, welcome them by preparing their bedswhere they’re gonna sleep, breathe and live. Why farming?What does it mean to be a farmer?How could human artificial activity be called ‘natural farming’?The mind is hungry for answers. Be patient, the answers will come through experience.You don’t need to rush to search on the artificial web,look inside you, wait for the universe to provide you the keysnot encapsulated in words and concepts but feelings, experiences. Then a good talk with another human,especially if it is an experienced one like Anshul,could really help to recalibrate and transfer learning. The core of farming is food.This is the basic but fundamental starting point.Around this first principlehumans create families, communities, organizations. To be a farmer is not just being on the land with dirty hands,Farming means planning, forecasting, researching, experimenting.It’s an equilibrium, a balance between physical and intellectual activity,between materialism and spirituality for the parallel evolution of both. Natural farming does not exist. Have you ever seen a farm naturally grow somewhere with no human intervention?What we define natural farming are all techniques and practices used in agriculturein order to mimic the natural processes. Just like in a forest the leaves naturally cover the soil making it humid and fertilein the same way we are mulching by putting branches and leaves from the pruning.The bio inputs of the animals and microorganisms that live in the forestare replicated with a layer of compost and biomass. Is there room for improvement? Of course.What will the future of farming look like? We are creating it.What’s the best way to learn? Hands-on approach. Previous ArticleNext Article Featured Articles Monthly Updatesㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ 28 Nov 2025 Abundance Product of the Month 22 Oct 2025 Flow of fire and water on the farmㅤㅤ 03 Dec 2025 Hands-On Approachㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ 29 Nov 2025
Lessons from Auroville Farm Assessment 2023
Across the red soils of Tamil Nadu’s southeast coast, Auroville’s farms continue to hold space for one of the most enduring experiments in community-scale organic farming and agroecology. Home » Blog » Lessons from Auroville Farm Assessment 2023 Lessons from Auroville Farm Assessment 2023 October 2025 · Anshul Aggarwal Across the red soils of Tamil Nadu’s southeast coast, Auroville’s farms continue to hold space for one of the most enduring experiments in community-scale organic farming and agroecology. With the rising ecological, social, and economic pressures on agriculture, it is important to review Auroville farming and put it in perspective with the ongoing global discourse on food and agriculture. As a first step towards this, in 2023, a sector-wide assessment brought together five-year data from sixteen of Auroville’s twenty-six farms to understand the state of farming in Auroville. The study examined land and water use, production, labour, and finance. What emerged is a picture of both resilience and fragility — a network of farms that have weathered shocks, diversified their outputs, and upheld ecological integrity, yet remain challenged by issues of labour, finance, and generational renewal. The full assessment methodology and results can be found here: https://www.avfarmassessment.in/ The assessment team comprised four Aurovilians: Anshul, Avinash, Madhuri, Nidhin. A summary of the main insights gleaned from the assessment with recommendations from the assessment team are given below. 1. A Network of Commons-Based Farms The sixteen farms together span 306 acres, of which 84% are actively used. About 60% of the cultivable land is irrigated through borewells, ponds, and rainwater harvesting systems, reflecting adaptation to Auroville’s dry plateau ecology. All the farms practice organic management, relying on compost, green manures, and traditional bio-ferments such as jeevamruth and panchagavya. Dairy-holding farms close the nutrient cycle internally, producing manure and fertility inputs in-house. These are not industrial operations but diverse agroecosystems that integrate fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy, and poultry. 2. Resilience Through Diversity Production data show clear patterns of resilience. Vegetable output declined sharply—by 34%—in 2020–21 due to COVID-19 and extreme rainfall, but recovered by 2022–23. Fruits remained steady around 42 tonnes annually, while dairy production more than doubled and egg output nearly tripled. This diversity has been key to recovery. Perennial crops and livestock buffered the shocks faced by annual vegetables, demonstrating that integration across crops and animals increases resilience. The findings reaffirm a core agroecological principle: diversity and cooperation, not specialisation, sustain farming systems in the long run. 3. Labour: The Strength and the Strain Auroville’s farms employ about 150 people, including 49 Aurovilians, 65 regular Tamil workers, and 30–70 seasonal workers. They remain a stable source of employment in the region, yet labour conditions reveal deep strains. Daily wages in 2022–23 ranged from ₹200–565 for women and ₹365–800 for men, exposing a persistent gender gap. Wages rise 5–10% each year, often faster than farm income, and the workforce is ageing with few young Aurovilians entering the field. Auroville’s community agriculture cannot thrive without labour justice. Equity in pay (gender and Aurovilian v/s non-Aurovilian), social benefits, and apprenticeship pathways for youth must become collective priorities if Auroville’s farms are to remain viable into the next generation. Additionally, the costs of justice must not be passed on solely to consumers or absorbed by individual farms, but held collectively within the community economy. 4. Finance and the Fragility of the Shared Economy Between 2018 and 2023, the assessed farms collectively borrowed about ₹1.05 crore—43% from Auroville’s Farm Group and 57% through personal investment by farmers themselves. Only one-third has been repaid. This reliance on private funding highlights a contradiction within Auroville’s shared economy: collective food security often depends on individual financial risk. Even farms with positive farming surpluses remain vulnerable without structured capital support or budget-linked planning. To secure the future, the community must adopt shared financial frameworks—coordinated budgeting, transparent reporting, and collective investment—to replace ad-hoc dependence on personal loans and goodwill. 5. Ecological and Operational Constraints Wildlife intrusion—from boars, deer, and porcupines to peacocks and stray cattle—is among the most cited causes of crop loss. Periodic water scarcity and monsoon flooding further disrupt operations. Limited cold storage and processing facilities lead to wastage of perishable produce, especially fruits.Larger farms with machinery and infrastructure weather these challenges more easily, while smaller vegetable farms remain exposed. Conscious and significant investment in capital for shared tractors, boundary fencing, and expanded rainwater harvesting could greatly improve sector-wide resilience. 6. Aligning Production and Consumption The assessment reveals a mismatch between what Auroville’s farms produce and what its residents eat. While farms grow tropical fruits, greens, and grains, many community kitchens and eateries rely on temperate vegetables and external supplies. Bridging this gap requires closer coordination between farms and consumers. Seasonal menu planning, CSA-style prepayments, and small-scale processing of surplus fruits into dried or preserved products could stabilise farm income and reduce waste. In doing so, the community also reclaims its connection to seasonal, local food. 7. Education, Youth, and Food Sovereignty The long-term sustainability of Auroville’s agriculture depends on generational renewal. The study recommends a young-farmer pathway combining practical training, housing support, and education in agroecology and cooperative management. Farming education must be seen not just as vocational training but as an integral practice of consciousness—a way to unite ecological awareness, skill, and inner growth. Re-rooting farming within Auroville’s educational ethos can ensure that agriculture remains both livelihood and spiritual discipline. Beyond food security, Auroville’s guiding principle must be food sovereignty — the community’s ability to shape its own food system in alignment with ecological limits and social justice. This means shared governance among farmers, distributors, kitchens, and consumers; transparent budgeting; and participatory planning. Overall the assessment presents a mixed but hopeful picture: a sector that holds the resilience to recover from crisis, has diversified its base, and maintained organic integrity, yet faces structural fragilities in labour and finance, remaining limited in utilising its full potential. In doing so, Auroville’s living experiment in community farming continues to offer a quiet but vital contribution to the search for
Food and Agriculture in Auroville, India
We are being called to view agriculture not as a ‘business’ or a transaction with nature, but a participatory ‘joyous sacrifice of interchange’, a way of mutual action and growth. Home » Blog » Food and Agriculture in Auroville, India Food and Agriculture in Auroville, India September 2025 · Anshul Aggarwal As consciousness advances, Sri Aurobindo (1939) envisioned that the desire for food would, “progress from the type of a mutually devouring hunger to the type of a mutual giving, of an increasingly joyous sacrifice of interchange…Thus the law of Hunger must give place progressively to the law of Love, the law of Division to the law of Unity, the law of Death to the law of Immortality” (pp. 207-208). We are being called to view agriculture not as a ‘business’ or a transaction with nature, but a participatory ‘joyous sacrifice of interchange’, a way of mutual action and growth. Can agriculture be more than growing food? Can it be a path toward human unity and the evolution of consciousness? Over the last five decades, Auroville has undertaken remarkable ecological restoration work—today, much of the township is now under a forest canopy. Alongside this, a network of community farms has taken root, supplying fruits, vegetables, grains, milk, and eggs to the kitchens of Auroville. Yet, like farms everywhere, Auroville’s food system is not without challenges. Farmers face the same global pressures: commodification of food, labour shortages, climate shocks, wildlife pressures, and financial strain. At the same time, Auroville’s farms hold the potential to be something more—collective experiments in the advancement of human consciousness. But we need a new language to address the often overlooked potential of agriculture, and of Auroville farms in particular. Looking at agriculture through the lens of Sri Aurobindo and Mother’s Integral Yoga allows us to discover its multiple dimensions, which could all be integrated into what we can call- Integral Agriculture. The Dimensions of Integral Agriculture 1. The Physical (Ecological) Dimension Farming is becoming increasingly complex due to the changing climate, the presence of wildlife on farms, and sudden attacks by insects and microbes on crops, among other factors. Being a farmer means bearing these challenges and risks while still trying to put food on the table. At the same time, agriculture itself has a massive impact on the land, and especially modern agriculture has caused large-scale biodiversity loss. Through agroecology and ethical stewardship, farms in Auroville are attempting to restore the balance between wilderness and cultivation and turn agriculture from colonisation of land into a conscious partnership with it. Auroville farms have an interesting history of regenerating land in different ways, and the diversity of soil profiles, diets and farming techniques in this community presents an incredible opportunity to experiment with different approaches toward this goal. 2. The Vital (Social-Economic-Political) Dimension Every farm is as much a self-contained community as it is a part of the wider socioeconomic and political network. A healthy farm cannot just be healthy ecologically but needs to address issues of financial sustainability, people’s welfare and the sovereignty of food production. The Mother and Sri Aurobindo envisioned self-sufficiency in food as essential for a gnostic community. In Auroville, this is both practical and symbolic: a way of lessening dependence on fragile global food systems and cultivating responsibility at a local level. An assessment of Auroville’s farms (2024) showed that the shortfall in community-grown food is not only about production—it is also about distribution and consumption patterns. Interestingly, 70% of the farmers themselves come from outside Auroville, reflecting the community’s openness and the challenge of embedding farming into its core culture. Community farming in Auroville is thus a rare, living laboratory: small enough to manage, yet complex enough to mirror the dilemmas of global food systems. 3. The Mental (Scientific) Dimension of Agriculture Technology, particularly Artificial Intelligence, is making inroads into all aspects of our lives, and agriculture is no exception. Today we have automated irrigation systems managed remotely at the touch of a phone, drones sowing seeds and spraying fertilisers and pesticides, drone bees facilitating pollination, satellite imagery being used to predict soil moisture, plant health and so on, multi-purpose tractors and combines that can manage a large monoculture farm almost independently. There are many who believe that ‘smart farming’ with technology will replace human farmers. But this will come at the cost of diversity and traditional human knowledge and experience, which has developed and sustained agriculture for at least over ten millennia. We need solutions that do not seek to replace farmers, but become their allies and partners in supporting a new future of agriculture, which is technology-driven and yet remains at a human scale. With its interest in the evolution of consciousness, Auroville is poised to become a pioneer in discovering frameworks of conscious technology, particularly in fields like agriculture. 4. The Spiritual (Community) Dimension of Agriculture Agriculture teaches us the need for expanding our notion of community from only humanity to the non-human beings on this planet. It requires us to re-establish our lost connection with nature and locate ourselves as participants in the larger flow of energy. As Sri Aurobindo (2005) notes, “All Matter according to the Upanishads is food, and this is the formula of the material world that ‘the eater eating is himself eaten’ (p. 204). Thus, food must be considered not only as an object of sustenance of the material life but also as an object of contemplation for a spiritual life. It is a reminder of our separation, our desire to complete ourselves through each morsel. Auroville’s commitment to realising human unity, a unity not only within the human community, but unity of human with the Divine, adds a spiritual dimension to the agriculture practised here. 5. The Psychic (Educational) Dimension of Agriculture Finally, we are in a time in the world when everything has stopped making sense. The solutions of the physical, vital, mental, and even spiritual are hard to grasp and are not
Photo Storyㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
A collection of pictures of small and big fauna of the farm.ㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤ Home » Blog » Photo Story Photo Story August 2025 July 2025 · Karthick Mariappan Flora & Fauna of the farm https://auroorchard.auroville.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/PXL_20220707_044605599.TS_.mp4 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
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
Ayurveda Tips for rainy summer
Late summer, with its amount of rains, brings lots of humidity and dampness in the air that affect the body and its Dosha in many different ways: Pitta ferments and shows signs of Home » Blog » Ayurveda Tips for rainy summer Ayurveda Tips for rainy summer July 2025 · Dr. Be Late summer, with its amount of rains, brings lots of humidity and dampness in the air that affect the body and its Dosha in many different ways: Pitta ferments and shows signs of acidity, bloating, inflammation or strong body odour, lots of stagnation and retention felt in the digestive tract. Emotionally unhealthy Pitta becomes bitter, impatient and frustrated in the mind or the heart. Vata gets cold and makes the joints more painful with an irregular digestion and bowel movements and mind might be imbibed with anxious thoughts, worries or lack of concentration. We can help ourselves with the following recommendations: With the food Eat only when hungry and eat the appropriate amount (both hands joined together is the size of the stomach) Take a warm, cooked meal with any spices to improve the digestion (eg: ginger, turmeric, black pepper, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, ajwain, basil, garlic etc) Eat green leafy vegetables, take light dishes made of mung dal, vegetable soups… all pulses and dal are good when cooked with spices (all spices are good apart from red powder-chilli powder) For non-vegetarian, eat white meat or small fishes. Drink warm water all day long (especially when there’s a sore throat) Dinner should be light and taken 2 hours before going to bed Give energy to the body with cereals and grains such as: amaranth, barley, cooked oats, granola, rice Honey is the best sweetener Ghee used for cooking and Sesame and Olive oils for dressings Chew some neem or Tulsi leaves Some immunity enhancers: Giloy/Guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia), a very good immune regulator; 1tsp of powder morning and evening in warm water Amalaki (amla): full of vitamin C; consumed fresh if available or in powder Turmeric: Anti-inflammatory, can be used for gargling with warm water and a pinch of salt Tulsi (Ocimum tenuiflorum/sactum): for the lungs, fresh leaves in warm water Ashwagandha (Whitania somnifera): immune regulator and calming the nervous system; 1tsp morning and evening in milk or warm water Ginger – Turmeric – Black pepper powders (Be No1): improves digestion and energy, ½ tsp with warm water or lemon juice + honey once or twice a day Tulsi – Cinnamon – Amla – Ginger – Turmeric – Black pepper powders (Be No3): as prevention or in case of cold, cough, flu, feverish state, body ache, ½ tsp with a sip of warm water or lemon juice + honey once a day if it’s preventive, 3 times a day before food if there are symptoms Saffron, aloe vera, licorice herbal infusions Chyavanprash Avaleha: 1 tsp in the morning with breakfast Special treat for joint pain and inflammation: Shallaki Cream or Oil mixed with Castor Oil (Eranda Tailam): massage twice a day the painful joint, it’s a painkiller and anti-inflammatory Rosemary Essential Oil: 1 or 2 drops with the massaging oil and apply locally. It’s anti-inflammatory Shallaki Tablets: for arthritis, muscular pain, joint inflammation Triphala Guggulu Tabs: to reduce bloating, swelling, inflammatory conditions, 1 or 2 tabs per day before meals (use for short period) In the activities, help Pitta and Vata to be centred and grounded: Be grounded in the heart or abdomen with Yoga, Pranayama, Meditation, observing the breathing movements in the abdomen, Yoga Nidra, Body Awareness, Qi-Gong, Tai Chi… Regular exercise, 30 minutes daily Gardening, cultivating, weeding, cooking Keep warm, take warm showers, cover your neck from chilled breeze Gargling with salty water if sore throat Oil pulling with 1 Tbsp of sesame or coconut oil, keep in the mouth for some time, spit it out and rinse the mouth with warm water (can be done early morning or at bedtime after brushing the teeth) Nasya: pour 2 drops of sesame oil or Anu Tailam in each nostril once a day 4-5 drops of Castor Oil in the belly button followed by slight massage around the umbilicus at bed time Fragrances: sandalwood, rose, jasmine Let’s be all well, happy and healthy.Be at Santé Clinic 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
