Annapurna farm

Since the news that the AVFO has signed an MoU with IIT Madras, agreeing to hand over 100 acres of Auroville’s certified organic farmland in order to build a ‘sustainability campus’, support for Annapurna Farm has poured in from many different quarters.

On 13 August, the managers of Annapurna Farm received an email signed by three working groups constituted by the Governing Board – the Funds and Assets Management Committee, L’Avenir d’Auroville (Auroville’s Town Development Council) and the Farm Service – stating: “It has been decided to allocate 100 acres of Auroville land at Annapurna for the IIT [Indian Institute of Technology, eds.]

Letter from three members of the Auroville International Advisory Council to the Chairman, Auroville Foundation, regarding Annapurna Farm & and the Memorandum of Understanding with the IIT Madras.

To: Shri R.N. Ravi, Chairman, Governing Board, Auroville Foundation. Subject: The MoU with IIT Madras & Land Use Concerns Dear Shri R.N. Ravi ji,

Lt General Dhiraj Singh, General Officer Commander-in-Chief, Southern Command of the Indian Army, visited Auroville on 17 August and interacted with the Secretary, Auroville Foundation, and other Auroville representatives.

A petition calling upon local authorities and decision-makers to save Annapurna Farm from conversion to an IIT campus in an ‘unjust transformation’ had received 13,780 signatures in support by 30 August.

Annapurna is Auroville’s largest farm. Comprising over 35 acres, it is a mixed farm with cattle, paddy and fruit trees, as well as a dairy and food processing unit.

“Enhance Auroville food production to meet the needs of Auroville...” – View point of the Governing Board as recorded in the minutes of the 57th meeting.

Bindu, who is working on a movie on the topic, shares her understanding of the importance of millets, internationally, nationally and locally.

Even though Auroville farms largely use sprinklers and drip irrigation to reduce wastage of water, it goes without saying that our agricultural sector consumes the maximum amount of water.

Aurovilians, guests, volunteers and children of all ages enjoyed three days of the Auroville Farm Festival held 21-22 January. The first day was a celebration on the plot of the upcoming Foodlink site near the Certitude corner and included games and activities for children.

Manas discovers in Auroville the educational experiment he dreamed of years ago.

When the members of the Land Board took office in January 2014 they met with a dire scenario. Funds to purchase lands were in short supply, the sale of outlying lands was blocked, land encroachment was rampant, land grabs and falsifications of land documents by outsiders were discovered, and legal assistance was insufficiently available.

Before Auroville was officially founded in 1968 and before the final location of Auroville was decided by the Mother, disparate plots of land had been bought in the surrounding region.

From November to March it’s always busy in Auroville, with the community hosting performances, workshops and exhibitions and welcoming the outside world.

Jeff has been managing Discipline Farm for the past 23 years. He is also a coordinator of the Auroville Farm Group. Here he talks about the particularity of Auroville farming, the challenges facing our farmers and how they can be overcome.

Tomas and Krishna farm on different scales and in different ways. Tomas manages the 134 acres of Annapurna Farm; Krishna farms six acres of Solitude in the ‘non-till’ Fukuoka style.