From its beginning, this site has served as a center for interchange and training in the areas of human and community development, and the ecologically based formation of men and women of the agricultural sector.
The principle thrust of the farm is the bee keeping industry and joined with this in the area of production, there have been developed experiments and the validation of techniques that are appropriate for the conditions of the dry zone such as the bee keeping industry, agricultural ecology, product diversity and the development of small household gardens.
Some of these techniques include the conservation of the soil and water, production of vegetables in semi-controlled conditions, diversified family gardens, the production of medicinal plants and the raising of animals (chickens, cows, hairless sheep, pigs).
As part of Cantera’s support for development in rural communities, there have been developed in the Center, courses for training groups of women in the processes of production among which are the preparation of cheese, processing of dried fruit and the development of products with honey as the basic ingredient.
Pilot projects are actually in process for the production and selling of some of these products.
At the Center one can see examples of the infrastructure which has been facilitated that promotes the improvement of life for the rural communities (tanks made of iron and cement for retaining rain water, filters for potable water, latrines, a model house, large troughs where organic fertilizer is being produced utilizing worms, chicken and pig raising and the production of biogas.
Center for Interchange between Farmers