Farm Visitors
The farm demonstrates a variety of technologies coupled with nutrition-based farming to local farm groups, students, local Community-Based Organizations and Non-Governmental Organizations. In 2005, several institutions visited to learn of appropriate and organic farming practices from the URDT Demonstration Farm including: Kitagata Institute, Naigana Secondary School, Zika School, Buyaga School, Makerere University, Bugema University and other NGOs.
Farm Technologies
URDT demonstrates sustainable farming practices such as organic farming, natural pest and disease control, micro-irrigation, mushroom cultivation, land use management, environmental development and protection, animal husbandry, fish farming and greenhouse farming.
Technologies such as the rope-and-washer pumps are promoted. Proper post-harvest handling is promoted, especially in the use of solar driers and processing of vegetables. Tomatoes, bananas, sukuma wiki, carrots, onions, mushrooms and pineapples have been shown to have a longer shelf life if processing and packaging are well done. The post-harvest handling training has had much success with adult attendees where deliberate efforts were made to make the training gender-friendly.
Demonstration Crops
There are dozens of crops grown on the URDT farm. Some examples are bananas, pineapples and coffee beans. URDT grows a variety of different coffee trees to determine those with the best-tasting coffee beans and the most productive trees suited for west-central Uganda.
Animal Husbandry
URDT's Poultry Demonstration Project has taught many farmers about increasing food production beyond the subsistence level. Those that have listened have found a good customer as URDT's family keeps growing. Other animals on the Demonstration Farm include cattle and oxen.
Sustainable Agriculture
The URDT Demonstration Farm is open to the community to learn how to improve their own crop production by using sustainable agriculture practices and appropriate technologies that do not harm the environment.
URDT Nursery
The URDT Nursery is instrumental in the District's reforestation drive. Nursery seedlings are distributed at a small fee. URDT has distributed over 2 million seedlings of various species and gave 1,000 seedlings to the District on Water & Environment Day. URDT has planted 700 seedlings on its own woodlots. In 2005, over 20,000 tree seedlings of different varieties were planted in the district.
Fish Farmers
One of the highlights of the URDT Demonstration Farm is the Fish Pond. Women fish farmers in a nearby town have built their own fish ponds using the URDT model. These women have also organized their own preschool for their small children to allow themselves to do a more productive job as fish farmers. They have also been invited to join the Kagadi Women's Financial Service Limited, although some think they should start their own Savings and Credit Society. Whichever way they decide, URDT will be there to help them with access to microcredit.
Beekeepers
URDT has long had beekeeping as part of its Demonstration Farm. The Buyaga Sub-County farmers have taken their URDT training seriously and have switched from the old woven hives to the more productive wood and metal hives produced by URDT carpentry craftsmen. They have also formed a Buyaga Beekeepers Savings and Credit Society. One of their first group investments was to have URDT help them purchase a honey refractometer to measure the water and purity content in their honey, to make it more marketable. Several of the beekeepers have taken URDT advice to first market honey locally before tackling the complications and complexity of international sales. As a result, within one year, one beekeeper increased his hives from nine to 45 by selling honey locally within the Kibaale District.
Partnership with URDT Girls' School
The Demonstration Farm and URDT Girls' School work together to promote good nutrition and production of income-generating crops. Workshops are held to help the households of the URDT Girls' School to develop farm planning and management skills, with a focus on vegetable and cereal production for both home use and market.
News from URDT
You can always find the latest information about the URDT Demonstration Farm and all of our programmes, as well as updates from the Uganda Rural Development and Training Programme on our News Blog.