Founded in 2022 by Sudhakar and Noushadya Iyer, VaanaVizha grows chemical-free produce such as rice, coconuts, moringa, neem, bananas, and different varieties of citrus fruits on their 12-acre farm in Vikramasingapuram in the Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu.
VaanaVizha—which comes from Tamil words ‘vaanam’ meaning ‘sky’ and ‘vizha’ meaning ‘festival’—alludes to a celebration of everything under the sky. Sudhakar and Noushadya first established VaanaVizha, then called Vivasayee’s Life, as a blog in 2018, where they documented their farming journey in Vikramasingapuram; drawing on their volunteering experiences at Vanvadi, a forest conservation project near Neral, Maharashtra; and with organic farming communities in Auroville.
They currently work with 25 organic farmers across Tirunelveli, Tensaki, and Kanyakumari districts to source additional ingredients and products including cane jaggery, palmyra jaggery, rice, honey, millets, snacks, and pickles. Some of the rice they retail include heritage rice varieties like Kothamalli Samba (a native variety of unpolished red rice from Tamil Nadu) and Karuppu Kavuni (a traditional black rice variety from southern India). They also retail specialty products like sun-dried bananas, palmyra fruit leather, and palmyra sprouts that are made on their farm.
Today, they practise chemical-free farming, along with composting and mulching, to maintain soil health. Apart from sourcing snacks like Sammai (little millet) murruku and Kezhvaragu (finger millet) murruku and pickles like Kidarangai Oorugai (rough lemon pickle) and Naarthangai Oorugai (citron pickle) sourced from Tamil Nadu’s Dharmapuri district, they make most of their products at their own farm using a solar dehydrator, and commercial-grade mixers and grinders. Their farm is also open to visitors for farm tours with provisions for overnight stays.
The Locavore Bite
TL Bite offers a glimpse into how a partner producer runs their operations, and reflects their core principles and values. The idea is to provide insights into their practices and highlight their positive efforts descriptively. We have identified seven key areas of assessment – origin and source of ingredients, composition and integrity of the products, workforce policies, production practices, community-related initiatives, approach towards preserving or celebrating traditional knowledge and the materials used in packaging. While this assessment may not be entirely comprehensive, we hope it helps you make an informed decision about why you might want to support them, and the ways in which to do so.
The information below offers you a snapshot of where VaanaVizha stands on these parameters. We have put this together based on several rounds of conversations with Sudhakar and Noushadya Iyer. Click on a piece of the pie below to find out more.
Why We Love VaanaVizha
- Utilising natural resources available on the farm: Before establishing VaanaVizha, Sudhakar and Noushadya spent time learning farming techniques from local farmers, relying on them to understand the landscape. While large-scale industrial farming within the region encouraged farmers to adopt practices like tilling, using pesticides, and burning crop residue, the duo decided to stick with organic farming. They do not use any chemical inputs; instead, they improve soil health by composting, mulching and use of biochar. They also rely on insects and other small animals that create holes and mounds within the land, increasing the porosity of the soil, thereby reducing the land’s overall water requirement. They make use of locally available resources like wild grass for animal feed and farm residues like stalks and straws for nutrient recycling, which involves the natural breakdown of farm materials so plants can better absorb their nutrients. The animals on the farm have a symbiotic relationship: hens peck ticks off of cows, snakes keep the rodent population in check, spiders catch flying insects, and termites digest the dead plant material.
- Rearing cows native to Tamil Nadu: While VaanaVizha initially reared cross-bred cows on the farm in 2018 in order to generate income through the sale of milk, they observed that these cows could not withstand the region’s heat. They made the switch to non-descript cows related to the Thenpandi breed, native to southern Tamil Nadu—with help from Om Prakash, a neighbouring farmer—in 2019. These cows graze on dry grass for 4–5 hours daily, and thrive in hot weather conditions. VaanaVizha breeds only native cows to keep the gene pool intact. They do not milk the cows for at least 10 days after they give birth, so the calves can get sufficient milk and nutrients. They do not practise artificial insemination; instead, native bulls are reared by each farmer in their group of organic farmers.
- Forming a community of organic farmers: In 2022, VaanaVizha started partnering with local farmers to sell their produce. They work with farmers who are committed to growing chemical-free produce, practise intercropping, promote biodiversity on their farms, and encourage the presence of animals on their land. They host a monthly potluck with 10 partner farmers, informally named ‘onru koodal’, which translates to ‘a gathering of people’ in Tamil. Farmers bring their produce and share information on their crops, harvests, and challenges faced on the farm, while having a meal together. Here, they hold farm-schooling sessions for children, teaching them the basics of starting a fire and planting baby saplings. They also host a gathering for all the local workers on their farm, who bring their families along for a meal.
After working closely with organic farmers across various districts in southern Tamil Nadu, what do you hope consumers can learn in terms of appreciating and understanding the care and effort that goes into making your products?
“Organic cultivation of produce is not only good for health and the environment, but also generates local employment for farmers, which helps prevent rural to urban migration. By encouraging people to participate in our journey, via our farm tours, blog, and social media, we want to help consumers build closer relationships with farmers.
While women do most of the work to bring food to our tables, they neither receive recognition nor remuneration for it, with an increased mechanisation of labour. By getting more people to purchase from farmers who provide fair wages and employment to women, there is also hope to reimagine the role women play in the future of agriculture.”
—Sudhakar and Noushadya Iyer (Co-founders of VaanaVizha)
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How to Buy
If you would like to learn more about VaanaVizha, or try their products, check out their website. If you’re interested in supporting them in other ways, please contact us at connect@thelocavore.in.
This is a paid partnership with VaanaVizha. At The Locavore, we strive to keep the practices of a producer transparent and honest across all forms of partnerships.
Gia Alvares is the Partnerships Associate at The Locavore. She is a writer with a background in Economics and Sociology, drawn to work that centres people, stories, and lived experiences.
Editor: Yashvi Shah
Copy Editor: Khorshed Deboo
