In March 2023 I spent one week at Varanashi Farms, an organic farm about an hour from Mangalore that grows a vast assortment of things, including, most notably for my purposes, cacao. We came here to do a tree to bar chocolate making course with Ketaki Churi, who co-founded The Indian Cacao & Craft Chocolate...
Mangaluru: The second edition of Psicobloc India, an event that combines rock climbing with free falling into the water, showcased an electrifying performance with 100 rock climbers from across India and 30 swimmers from the Puttur Aquatic Club. The event was held in Varanashi Farms in Bantwal on April 27 and 28. Shyam Sundar from Fitrock Arena, Chennai and Gaurav...
The last few months of 2023 were incredibly beautiful. Our team was hired to handle all the socials and event coverage of the India Blockchain Week Conference. I wrapped up most of the business side of things by Christmas and was thinking about what I should do in the next 10 days I have in hand. Most...
Looking for a treehouse homestay in Karnataka? The 200-year-old Varanashi Organic Farm near Mangaluru invites volunteers every month to learn organic farming and take a break from the hustle of city lives. In Karnataka’s Kepu village, 50 km southeast of Mangaluru, lies a 50-acre organic farm that is around 200 years old. Through the years,...
In the spirit of staying truly naked, I’ll be honest and say I’m deathly afraid of water. I stepped into a pool for the first time on my first day of middle school, holding onto a paddleboard for dear life and giggling away, waiting for our swim teacher to start the class. And well, as...
The future looks grim for rice as we know it. It supplies 25 per cent of global calories and half the world’s population depends on it as a basic food. For much of the developing world, rice is a key to human survival. But at the same time, climate change is poised to create a negative...
Episode 1 of our organic farming course in collaboration with Varanashi Farms dwells on the subject of high performance farming. Taking a scientific approach to organic farming can yield fantastic results that far surpass methods used in chemical farms. In part 2 of the high performance organic farming segment, we explore some...
The Varanashi family has been working in the agricultural sciences for decades. The family has been involved with setting up India’s first domestic chocolate factory to turning agro-industrial waste to compost to developing beneficial cultures of micro-organisms.
Varanashi Organic Farms currently extends for about 100 Acres over two properties, with seven irrigation ponds, as well as a river and a riverlet adjoining one of the properties. Crop plantations are maintained within the natural vegetation of the area, and 60% of the farms is still untouched forest. Crops like Arecanut, Coconut, Cocoa, Nutmeg,...
