Széchenyi István University and its wholly-owned Uni-Agro-Food Kft. have won a total of more than HUF 1.7 billion in non-refundable grants under the Rural Development Programme announced by the government. This will enable the institution - which will supplement the substantial amount with HUF 130 million of its own resources - to further develop the Mosonmagyaróvár Smart Farm's barley and dairy processing infrastructure for educational, demonstration and research purposes.

Last year, the government launched the Rural Development Programme, under which it launched a call for proposals to set up demonstration farms to improve agricultural training. Speaking at a ceremony to hand over the support documents, Agriculture Minister Dr István Nagy said that a total of HUF 15.6 billion in non-repayable grants had been awarded to 19 institutions, covering the purchase of machinery, equipment, infrastructure improvements and the development of renewable energy technologies. The Minister stressed that the demonstration farms can help farmers to learn about innovative technologies, crops, environmental, forestry, animal welfare, animal health, farm management, organisation and marketing solutions to optimise production, reduce pollutant emissions and adapt effectively to the expected impacts of climate change.

The winners include Széchenyi István University and the wholly owned Uni-Agro-Food Kft. Dr. Bálint Filep, President of the University, Dr. Tamás Tóth, Dean of the Albert Kázmér Mosonmagyaróvár Faculty and Dr. Zoltán Borbás, CEO of Uni-Agro-Food Ltd. received the certificates of support from Dr. István Nagy, Minister of Agriculture, at a ceremony held at the Ministry.

Dr. Tamás Tóth said that within the framework of the former project, a herb and spice garden and an orchard will be established at the University's Lucsony Street site, next to the small dairy processing plant in Mosonmagyaróvár, the existing greenhouse will be renovated and technological equipment will be purchased. "The garden will be designed with the purpose of offering a wide variety of species, using cultivation techniques that are feasible in modern horticultural conditions. We are creating a smart garden: the raised beds will be complemented by a digital remote monitoring system, a watering system controlled by a weather monitoring station, a rainwater harvesting system and composting units. The operation will also be monitored online by cameras," the Dean explained. He added that the technology of the small dairy processing plant will also be upgraded to allow full monitoring and digital traceability of raw materials such as raw milk, herbs and fruits from the Smart Garden, semi-finished and finished products. There will also be a series of demonstration farm programmes.

A herb and spice garden and an orchard will also be set up at the premises of Széchenyi István University in Lucsony Street, Mosonmagyaróvár.

Dr. Tamás Tóth also explained that the winning tender of Uni-Agro-Food Ltd. is to establish an animal research laboratory at the Smart Farm, a 500-hectare farm in Mosonmagyaróvár, which will support performance optimisation studies with pig and poultry species, as well as demonstrate the use of IoT solutions and artificial intelligence. n addition, programmes on precision farming will be organised, with the addition of a grain elevator, a grain probe and a harvester-tiller. "Thanks to the investments made in recent years and thanks to this tender, we can now demonstrate our crop production activities from sowing to harvesting in practical conditions, using drones, robots and precision power and machine links," the dean stressed.

Visual plan: an animal research laboratory will be set up in the Smart Farm of the Széchenyi István Smart Farm in Mosonmagyaróvár.