Demonstration Farm
Building a local organic market is key for economic sustainability. Our organically grown crops and carefully manufactured products are not only healthy and protecting nature but also contributing to the sustainable growth of the zambian economy.
Demonstration Farm
KATC has a demonstration farm to support the practical training.
The production also serves to help to build the organic sector in Zambia and to generate income for the institution.
There is a crop production section with rain-fed and irrigated crops and a livestock section with dairy and ranch-animals as well as a piggery.
KATC is also involved in the preservation and multiplication of traditional crops to ensure that small-scale farmers have easy access to these planting materials.
Livestock
The livestock section has over 200 cattle consisting of a dairy and beef herd. The dairy herd has about 70 cows and 100 young stock. Since 2016 KATC inseminates his cows with Fleckvieh semen through artificial insemiation. Breeding goal is, to develop a dual-purpose breed which is adapted to the conditions of the tropics and subtropics. The dual-purpose breed is expected to have a good milk production as well as good weight gains from farm-grown feed for meat production. During the years to come the artificial insemination will be counterbalanced by family-breeding to ensure high local adaptation and resistance to diseases of the breed.KATC has also a stock of 10 breeding sows from which it raises pigs for sales. All animals are fed entirely from farm grown feed.
Crop Section
The crop section of KATC’s Production Units section produces a wide variety of both rain-fed and irrigated crops on a commercial scale. Crops produced under irrigation are mostly cereals such as barley, wheat, oat and winter maize. Rain-fed crops include seed maize (mostly open pollinated varieties), soya beans, local beans, sunflower and green manure crops such as sunhemp and velvet beans. Different varieties of panicum grass are the main pasture species grown for the livestock section.
KATC grows a wide variety of traditional crops and vegetables, to preserve the seeds and make them available to small-scale farmers. All crops are grown under sustainable practices without the use of synthetic fertilizers.