Study Areas
Preparing students to drive conservation agriculture solutions across the value chaiN
RICA students focus on smallholder operations during their first year and enterprise operations in their second year. RICA enterprises are not large scale commercial production units, but utilize many of the technologies found in such operations. All enterprises incorporate principles of conservation agriculture, emphasizing soil health, sustainable production, and long-term resilience. Students initially rotate through all six enterprises before they choose an area of specialization.
RICA Enterprises
While RICA enterprises are managed as unique entities in some ways, they are also naturally intertwined. For example, irrigated crops rely on the capacity of the mechanization and irrigation enterprise, and manure from livestock enterprises is used to fertilize crops. A secondary aspect of RICA enterprises is that RICA produce is used in our cafeteria to feed students and staff.
Row and Forage Crop Enterprise
This enterprise focuses on all aspects of producing row and forage crops, such as maize, soybean, hay, dry beans, and sorghum. Conservation agriculture principles are used at every step of the production cycle, including land preparation, planting, pest management (e.g. weeds, insects, disease), soil quality and fertility, sprinkler and drip irrigation, harvest, storage, and marketing of grains and forages. This enterprise produces crops that are used for food as well as animal feed.
Mechanization and Irrigation Enterprise
This enterprise teaches how to manage, operate, and maintain equipment used in crop and livestock production. It includes powered and non-powered equipment including tractors, planters, cultivators, harvesters, grain handling and processing equipment, milkers, sprayers, and more. This enterprise also teaches the use of drip and center pivot sprinkler irrigation systems, with emphasis on using conservation agriculture to improve both profitability and environmental protection.
Poultry and Swine Enterprise
While these are two distinct commodities, there are enough similarities between poultry and swine that they are grouped into a single enterprise. Both house livestock in biosecure facilities to mitigate risk of disease and optimize production. The poultry operation has broilers for meat and layers for eggs. The confined swine operation teaches swine production from breeding to rearing to processing. Both poultry and swine operations generate manure resources, which are then utilized on RICA cropland.
Dairy Enterprise
The dairy enterprise is a pasture-based production system that uses small herds to teach animal husbandry of both cows and milking goats. This enterprise also includes the operation of a milking parlor and teaches students about animal breeding and disease management.
Food Processing Enterprise
This enterprise takes produce from other enterprises – including grain, milk, vegetables, fruit, meat, and eggs – and preserves and adds value to these products. Students learn critical aspects of food safety, safe operation of food processing equipment, and how to turn raw products into items of greater value and storage longevity. Products such as cheese, butter, yogurt, jams, and more are produced in this enterprise and either consumed in RICA’s cafeteria or sold on the market.
Vegetable and Tree Fruit Enterprise
This enterprise teaches all aspects of producing vegetables and fruit for human use, using both rainfed and irrigated conservation agriculture systems. This enterprise introduces production and marketing issues that are of particular importance to commercial production, such as scheduling production and managing quality according to specific standards, especially for export markets. This enterprise also manages citrus and mango orchards on RICA’s campus.
Grain and Feed Entreprise
The Grain and Feed Enterprise empowers students with hands-on, career-focused training in value-added agro-processing. This enterprise uniquely combines practical teaching, research and income generation. Sixty percent of the enterprise’s operations is allocated to experiential learning, such as specialized classes, student projects, and holiday volunteering. The remaining 40% is strategically dedicated to income generation through the sale of processed grains and manufactured feeds.