Another partner of the eTOMATO project is La Junquera, in the Murcia province in the south of Spain, where the sunlight and the enthusiasm abound.
La Junquera farm works together with the students of the Regeneration Academy on the ways it is possible to accomplish the transition to a different type of agriculture, known to the community as Regenerative multifunctional Agriculture. This means that La Junquera is diversifying its activities to become more resilient and that it is looking to make the the supply chains shorter, also to provide the local community with fresh organic produce.
In order to accomplish this, La Junquera has to undertake activities with the Regeneration Academy which has found headquarter in the farm’s premises. The Academy has developed a Regenerative agriculture Research program for students from all over Europe to learn about this type of agriculture firstly; then, they have implemented these notions in the farm, helping it transitioning towards a more sustainable future.
One of the ways in which the farm exchange knowledge with the other farmers and researchers in the Murcia region is through the Open Days. These are events during which the students share their experiments and researches with the farmers and researchers of the area. In the most recent open day, there has been an affluence of 67 people visiting and spending a day in the farm; and thus, the countryside. During the day lunch has been offered, been bought from an organic shop that only deals local produce. The participants of the open day learned about the activities the farm can offer (hiking, biking, restaurant, and inn). Participants also came to know about sustainable land use practices like hedges and borders, compost, swales, intercropping and more. Doing this event with other local
organizations and not only by La Junquera alone was at the roots of its important success and resonance for the area: the farm hopes of being able to do more of them, in order for the local community to get to know the possibilities that the countryside has to offer.
Do you want to learn more about how La Junquera is involved in didactic farming and multifunctional agriculture?