Home gardens survey

Today there are around 47 home vegetable gardens in Auroville. They are distributed over 39 communities and make up a total cultivated area of about 2.87 acres. The majority of home gardens, in terms of square metres, are currently situated in the Green Belt. Not all of the home gardens are organically cultivated.

The survey results indicate that about one third of the vegetable gardens (13 gardens) have been started in the last year. Roughly another third (16 gardens) have been set-up in the last three years, whereas the other third (18 gardens) have been there for more than 3 years. The addition of 29 home gardens in the last three years (8,957m2) is a truly positive sign for the future of home gardening in Auroville.

The main five crops cultivated are tomato, long beans, lettuce, brinjal and basil.

More than 70% of gardeners said that they give away their surplus production as a gift to friends and neighbours. This indicates a vibrant gift or in-kind economy around home vegetable gardening. 10% of gardeners are selling their surplus vegetables and 13% are giving it in-kind and selling it. The selling of surplus production is primarily done through Foodlink.

The motivation for home vegetable gardening varies between an interest in trying it out and learning new things, to the fact that people always did it and that it became a lifestyle choice. Many gardeners felt inspired to take up vegetable gardening by initiatives started in the past by some of Auroville’s organic farmers and other individuals.

Home gardeners expressed that they would like to see more Aurovilians starting vegetable gardens; to have a support system of people that can help in setting up gardens; a platform to exchange experience and growing techniques; and an increased gift economy of sharing surplus, seeds, seedlings and other garden input materials. Their goal is for Auroville to have a vibrant culture of urban food production, beautifully and elegantly integrated in our built environment, supplying 25% of our fruit and vegetable demand.

The main recommendations that emerged from the survey were:

1. The need to create a platform that matches up people who don’t have land and want to garden, with people who have excess space and no desire to garden.

2. The recently released land-use plan of Auroville has indicated land within the city’s Master Plan area that is valuable land for food-production and that should be earmarked for urban agriculture initiatives. Initiating projects on some of these plots will be a good way to increase the culture of urban food production in Auroville and to make it an essential part of any future urban planning exercise. Urban agriculture presents a unique opportunity to make use of vacant land and rooftop spaces to produce healthy, pesticide-free food.

3. The need for workshops to further build urban farming capacity and skills of Aurovilians. Awareness campaigns to create a broad understanding of the benefits of urban farming may greatly help in mobilizing the community.

4. The potential seasonal surplus issue of certain vegetables and fruits needs to be addressed by new modes of management of the supply and demand chain. Farming and urban farming should not be seen as a competition but rather as complementary approaches that aim at healthy organic food production for the community and environmental well-being.

5. Community gardens, while being used as an educational space, could also be used as a place for seed exchange, providing access to local and organic seeds for people starting their own gardens.

6. Incorporating vegetable gardens and cooking classes more holistically into the Auroville school curriculums would provide children with the knowledge to be able to start their own gardens at home and provide children with a connection to their food as well as healthy eating habits.