Ten years of the pilot farm system in Óvár

Vér, András – Tenk, Antal – Cser, János

Keywords: pilot farms network, ways of co-operation, opportunities for progress

It was exactly ten years ago that we reported about the first steps of building a pilot farm network in the 5th issue of Gazdálkodás in 2000. Our Pilot Farm Policies served as a basis for farms to apply for the ’Pilot Farm’ title and the decisions as to which farms could join the scheme were made by the Council of the Agricultural and Food Science Faculty of the University of West Hungary. One of the key criteria is that the applicant’s operating results should exceed those of the comparable farms over a number of years in a row. Besides, the applying farms should be able to serve as the venue of technical presentations and must have the facilities to receive visitors.
Co-operation with the University has become more intense over the years as the Faculty has enjoyed increasing financial and moral support in the form of innovation contribution and vocational training contribution paid by the pilot farms. This support has provided a basis of highly significant joint research projects and innovation developments in the past years for the benefit of both parties. By the end of 2010, as many as 50 pilot farms had joined the system.
Although the partnership between the Faculty and the pilot farms currently entails writing bids, technical consulting, exhibitions and fairs, presentations, experience sharing and conferences, advancement calls for more extensive co-operation.

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