| December '04
Annapurna
Auroville bought Annapurna farm in the 1960's.
It is located some 10 km. from the Auroville centre, near Vanur.
 During
the 70's the farm failed to break even and the land was largely abandoned
for some years. It was used for experimental tree planting until
the mid-eighties. Thomas (present steward) joined Annapurna in 1986,
beginning with a small plot of land. Till 1994 he had the help of tree
planter Bernard; Andre joined the farm in 1989 and Brooks in 1995.
As of now they employ seventeen farm workers and about 25 casual labourers.
Annapurna is the largest Auroville farm, totalling 135 acres. The
farm grows mostly dry land crops, such as rice, varagu, rosella, and
barnyard millet (on approximately 35 - 40 acres). A total of 20-25
acres is under firewood crops and regeneration fodder. The soil type
is mainly a heavy black cotton soil.
The farm has a combination of solar and diesel-powered pumps, for
current and water. The stewards have created a series of water catchment
ponds, from which they can irrigate more land without tapping into
groundwater reserves. Annapurna is the only Auroville farm where field
crops can be grown on a large scale. Besides growing food for Auroville,
Annapurna is an active research centre for ecological farming, and
maintains a collection of non-hybridized local seed stock. They keep
eight cows, and a small poultry. At present, they can provide basic
accommodation for three voluntary farm workers
AuroAnnam
Since 1997, Lucas had been searching for a plot of land, in order
to develop it into a demonstration site for growing organic cashew
nuts. In October 1998, the Auroville Farm Group offered him the northern
corner of Auro Orchard. The total area is fourteen acres, of which
4.5 were already under cashew. There are also about seventy coconut
palms and some land that Auro Orchard had been using, but had become
economically unsustainable.
Lucas and his team put an additional four acres under cashew, with
the intention of growing peanuts and gram in between. There is a bore
well with an electrical pump and booster pump. The flood irrigation
for the coconuts (to be changed for micro-sprinklers) is supplemented
by mulching and ground cover crops, to prevent evaporation of water.
The area that is already under irrigation will be more intensively
cultivated with various fruits and vegetables. In the open fields,
fodder and field crops will be grown. There are a one bull, for cart
and plough work, and three cows to decrease the outside purchase of
organic manure.
The aim of Auro Annam is good health of the Auroville community, and
their immediate neighbours, by providing a natural and profitable alternative
to pesticide grown cashews in the bioregion, through research and experimentation.
Auroannam is quite unique among AVFG farms, in that its main income
is a cash crop from monoculture. The longer-term, and much broader,
aim of the farm is that Auroville becomes a viable eco-town that does
not financially compromise on health. The eventual focus is therefore
more on the broader AV community, and the immediate neighbourhood,
although at this early stage in the farm's development, activities
remain mostly at the farm level.
So far, the farm has received financial support from two German NGOs.
Lucas is also in contact with Indian NGOs that work in the field of sustainable
agriculture, and maintains links between AV farmers practicing biodynamic
farming. Auro Annam welcomes serious students, for whom guest accommodation
can be arranged
See also:
Farm accommodations
Aurogreen
Aurogreen is one of the oldest Auroville farms. It lies in the Green
Belt, on the northeast side of the city. Having started it in 1975,
Charlie still manages the farm. It covers about 35 acres of which 13
acres are set up for irrigation. The irrigation capacity is currently
limited due to the cost of Tamil Nadu State supplied electricity, for
pumping, and the great depth of the water table.
Six and a half acres of mango and cashew orchard are grown under dry
land conditions, although this orchard is currently in a sad condition,
due to the lack of irrigation. Aurogreen has a dairy with seven cows
and keeps 300 chickens, to provide Auroville with milk, cheese and
eggs. The farm supplies mostly to Green Belt residents, in its immediate
surrounding, and to Pour Tous (AV shop) and the Solar Kitchen.
Since the water table has gone down drastically over the years, so
as to replace traditional flood irrigation, three solar panel pump
sets have been installed, combined with drip and sprinkler systems.
This has resulted in reducing the overall dependency on electricity
and the all over water consumption on the farm. As a community, Aurogreen
uses biogas for cooking.
Charlies' current emphasis is on reducing costs and stabilising income.
The farm is open to guests.
See also: Farm
accommodations
Auro-Orchard
Auro Orchard consists of 45 acres of land, extending over the neighbouring
community of Hope. One corner of its land has on it a small shrine
to the god Ganesh. Gerard has run the farm from the beginning. It is
on one of the first land plots, purchased for Auroville by Mother at
around 1965. Larger development started in 1969 by bringing in electricity,
which enables two extra bore-wells with submersible pumps.
The Auroville administration paid for the initial investment, but
from the middle of 1969 onwards Auro-Orchard became a self-supporting
unit. This experiment of self-sufficiency had the full support from
the Mother, who gave guidance and instructions directly to Gerard.
The farm was developed acre by acre, by reinvesting all farm profits
over the next twelve years.
At present, about 25 acres are cultivated. Of these, about eight acres
are under irrigation for growing coconuts, fruits, vegetables, fodder
and peanuts. On the remaining 27 acres are grown cashew and mango.
There is also a very small plot of regenerative forest.
The farm has a dairy of fifteen cows, heifers and calves, and keeps
about 250 chickens. Recently three solar powered pumps have been installed,
along with micro sprinklers, to reduce the cost of Tamil Nadu State
electricity and cut down on overall irrigation costs.
Gerard sees farming at Auro Orchard as a way of manifesting oneself
through the work. His overall aim for Auro Orchard is a balanced ecological
farm, able to provide a good and reliable supply of food, while sustaining
itself.
See also:
AvToday
article, January '02
Ayarpadi Farm
After farming for three years in the community of Horizon, Murthy
set up Ayarpadi Farm in January 2002. It is on four acres of land located
along the road to Kottakarai, behind Bharat Nivas. He grows seasonal
crops on another eight acres, which the International Zone will eventually
take over again for its expansion.
The farm, with a house for Murthy & family,
has a solar system with submergible pump, an irrigation system and
a cowshed. The soil is a mixture of clay and sand, of medium quality.
Murthy irrigates a total of three acres with drip irrigation, for
growing cow-grass, vegetables and fruits. On the remaining acres
he grows rice, peanuts and kumbu. Murthy uses organic pesticides
(neem). The permanent staff is currently three men plus one amma.
The dairy has 30 cows, yielding a total of 85 litres of milk daily.
The dairy is supplemented with thirty chickens. So far no bio-gas has
been installed.
There will be the possibility
of expanding the farm, along the road to Kottakarai. At this stage
in its development, Murthy's objective of Ayarpadi Farm is as follows: “To ensure basic income and profit,
through a substantial and consistent food supply to Auroville”. He
is one of the busiest AVFG farmers and is extremely focussed on his
work. On the whole he is happy with the progress on his farm, though
he could use investment money to do more than he does now. Helping
guests are welcome on the farm.
See also: Farm
accommodations
Brihaspati
Brihaspati farm lies beyond the village of Edianchiavadi , to the west of
Auroville on the edge of the Green Belt. The area occupied by the farm is
a former cashew tope. Iyanar, the current steward, moved to Brihaspati in
2002, immediately after the departure of former residents who lacked farming
experience. In the same year Auroville purchased land for a neighbouring
horse farm called Red Earth Riding School .
The farm totals nineteen acres of which twelve are planted with cashew.
The soil varies a great deal, from relatively fertile loams around a nearby
lake, to gravel in gullies. It currently employs seven labourers, one of
whom is Iyanar's assistant.
The farm recently got an electrical (backup) connection for a 5 HP submersible
pump. The main crops currently grown on the farm are bananas, papaya, cucumber,
vegetables, spinach, lady's fingers, gourds, lemon, and cashew. These are
supplied to two AV shops and a restaurant. The farm has seven milking cows
yielding around 30 litres a day. The milk is distributed to Aspiration community,
New Creation Corner and the Visitors Centre.
Iyanar admits that it is hard work and that it is financially not easy
to start a farm. However, he feels that this is to be expected. He is confident
that things will improve. Like Murthy, he wants to insure a substantial food
supply to Auroville, maintaining a stable income and profit. Considering that
the farm is a very new one, Iyanar has done quite well in his first year as
an AVFG member. The acreage for vegetables has been increased, new crops are
tried and the all over food production has increased considerably, leading
to a relatively healthy economic status of the farm.
Budda garden
In 2000, Priya established Buddha Garden on a piece of Siddhartha
land that was offered as a vegetable plot. The first year was one of
dealing with a poor soil. In the second year Auroville acquired surrounding
land and Priya decided to expand it into an integrated farm with activities
supporting each other.
The farm covers ten acres, consisting of 1.5 acres of irrigated land
with vegetables, 1.5 acres of dry land orchards, 1.5 acres of forest
and 1.5 acres of waste land. The farm grows mainly vegetables and keeps
65 chickens for egg and manure production. There is also a cashew tope
(now two years old), a wood lot and a forest that has been planted
on land too poor to cultivate for growing food.
A number of people supported the farm over the years. There was help
for the raised bed experiment and the permaculture layout of the farm.
Emphasis on working with volunteers came as a natural progression
after Priya faced difficulties and a lack of commitment from employed
Tamil labourers. The bulk of produce is sold through a delivery/collection
bag system.
Buddha Garden , explains Priya,
intends to be economically, environmentally and socially sustainable.
In this context, the guiding objectives of the farm are Health and
well-being, the physical environment and basic income and profit”.
See also: www.buddhagarden.org
Discipline Farm
Since the beginning of 1994, Jeff ( Australia ) has been running Discipline
Farm, on a plot whose soil had been improved since 1986. Discipline
Farm is located near the village of Alankuppam , on the northern edge
of the Greenbelt .
Of the sixteen acres of land, close to two acres are drip-irrigated
and grown with fruits (coconut, banana, guava, papaya, passion fruit,
chikoos and citrus). Five and a half acres are used for dry land crops,
mainly mangos. There are further extensive vegetable gardens, watered
by micro-sprinklers, and cow fodder that is watered by large sprinklers.
The remainder of the land is forested.
A dairy with four milking cows supplies manure used for the composting.
The farm annually grows red rice as a monsoon crop, sesame or black
gram. The number of fruit varieties is gradually being increased. With
what funds available, the infrastructure of water tanks and pumping
systems is bit by bit being improved. The community uses a biogas converter
for cooking.
The objective of Discipline, as determined
by Jeff, is as follows: “For
Discipline, the primary objectives are a consistent food supply, generating
a basic income”.
See also: Farm
accommodations
Djaima farm
Djaima Farm is a part of the Djaima community, along the road between
Kuilapalayam and Bommaipalayam villages. Kumar is in charge of the
ten acre farm, which has good topsoil and produces fruits and seasonal
vegetables. They have a solar powered pump set on their bore well,
with an electric generator as a backup. There is a small dairy and
a poultry of 200 birds. The project is not self-supporting at this
time and Kumar would like to extend the operation by incorporating
more of the currently unused land.
Kumar proposes for Djaima farm: “Food processing and improving the
collective food supply. My secondary objectives, closely related to
this, include basic income and profit as well as research and experimentation
at the collective level”.
The research and experimentation would be done on improving the coordination
between the farmers and the processors
Kottakarai farm
Amudha and Sundaram manage a long-time agricultural area of Auroville,
Kottakarai Farm. The soil is very good, with two acres of irrigated
land, two acres suitable for dry land farming, three acres of orchard
and some forest. They grow vegetables and rice, traditional millets,
pulses and some oilseeds. The farm produce go to a lunch scheme at
Isaiambalam School . The setup is supplemented with a bakery and provisions
shop, and a food processing and research centre. With so many related
outlets and processors in the immediate area, the farm is very much
appreciated.
Amudha describes her aims as follows: “Ensuring a basic income through
a reliable supply of food, while seeking ways of reducing the risk
of crop failure. Through these means, production may be modestly expanded
without compromising the farmer's health and well-being”.
See also: Farm
accommodations
Service Farm
Service Farm, one of Mother's original land acquisitions, is located
behind Morratandi village, on twelve acres of sandy red soil. In 1990,
Mechtild took over the management of Service Farm. Since then she has
been investing in the farm from private funds and with the help of
AVI Germany.
Mechtild manages the farm with an all-women team of village workers.
A wide selection of fruit trees are grown, though parts of the orchards
were planted only in recent years and are not yet bearing fruit.
The farm has a bore-well with one conventional electric and one solar
submersible pump. These pumps supply water into three tanks. From there
a solar booster pump system irrigates six acres of trees by drip irrigation
and micro-sprinklers. The farm supplies its fruits mostly to Pour Tous
(AV shop), the Solar Kitchen and to the AV food processing units.
Mechtild: "I want to grow consciously,
as far as possible in harmony with nature and the environment, to
produce organic food for Auroville. Priority is the aspect of growing
in consciousness. Consequently the quality and quantity will improve
for the benefit of the farm, the farmer and the consumer."
See also: Farm
accommodations
Siddhartha farm
Siddhartha Farm is located in the traditional rice-growing region
surrounding the Irumbai water tank. Herbert is the steward and his
aim is to convert the open fields into an integrated farm project.
He envisions the farm to become a large-scale community supported project,
growing a maximum of rice and grains for Auroville. At present, the
farm mainly produces rice, sugar cane and black gram, crops which are
rotated with green gram, peanut, sesame, millet, dhal and cashew.
Solar panels and drip irrigation are used on some of the crops, though
a diesel pump is used to provide water to the paddy fields. The farm
uses biogas for domestic cooking. A large proportion of the farm income
comes from processing food, for sale in Auroville.
Herbert wants: “To ensure a good, stable food supply to Auroville.
This will be achieved by managing the physical environment effectively
and ensuring financial sustainability. In the wider context, it is
also necessary to put in place better systems for collective food supply
and distribution”.
See also: Farm
accommodations
Solitude farm
Situated opposite Siddhartha Farm along the Edianchiavadi Road , near
the American pavilion area, Krishna started Solitude in 1996 by building
capsules on a segment of fallow farmland that surrounds an existing
open well. The farm has developed as the resources and inspiration
has become available. Six acres of land are in use. The farm grows
the following crops: rice, peanuts, vegetables, orchard, ulundu, dal,
cambu, samai, sesame, varagu, tenai and ragi.
The farm currently has two cows. Water is drawn up from a depth of
eleven meters by means of a solar panel pump set.
Krishna
: “Solitude farm aspires to be as integrated as possible in
its approach. The farm aims to sustain a community while being in harmony
with its environmental and social context”.
See also: Farm
accommodations
Windarra
Windarra is a farm of 22 acres between the villages of Alankuppam
and Kottakarai. In March 1998, three Aurovillians established the farm,
to grow organic food for Auroville. Among the monsoon-crops are peanuts,
indigenous grains (such as tennai) and legumes (such as ulundu and
kulu). Green manure crops are grown to enrich the soil.
A fruit orchard with palmyra, papaya and banana trees is newly in
production, and in the future there will be harvests of, among others:
coconuts, guavas, jack fruit and citrus. The farm contains parts where
grow thorny bamboo, pongamia and various indigenous forest trees. Windarra's
dairy produces milk (products) and eggs for Auroville. The farm pumps
water by means of a windmill into several tanks, emptied via a solar
surface pump.
The food goes to the Solar Kitchen, the Centre Guest House, the Information
Centre and the Coffee Shop. Some Aurovillians come to purchase produce
directly at the farm. Present permanent community members are Friederike
(German) and Kumar (Tamil), with their families. The farm has three
permanent and two temporary workers, plus volunteers. The work includes
food processing, the saving of seed, and bee keeping. In the high season,
they work with additional workers.
Friederike
wants: “To develop an integrated farm. The main priorities
include maintaining the farmers' health, well-being and spirituality,
while ensuring a viable food supply without compromising nature”.
See also: Farm
accommodations
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