Prana is located close to the city of Sodo, on 40 hectares of land which was for a long time fallow. We now have fertile soil but susceptible to erosion.
We are developing it into a farm by establishing the necessary infrastructure. We are blessed with the presence of a small, but bountiful river, which supplies us with year round water for irrigation. The river is also used by the local community and we have made sure that they could maintain access to this precious resource. We are researching possible management practices and cultivars that will help to keep our soil in place and to regulate floods during the rainy season. Floods cause superficial runoff and subsequent erosion of valuable topsoil layers.
Our Crops
Organic food production is the core of our activities!
Here you can find a list of the crops we cultivate at Prana. It includes vegetables and fruits, as well as several grasses that we grow for multiple purposes. Below you can also find some plants that we find interesting for future research!
Onions
Allium cepa
Peppers
Capsicum Annuum
Potatoes
Solanum tuberosum
Papayas
Carica papaya
Green beans
Phaseolus vulgaris
Bananas
Musa Paradisiaca
Grasses
Alfalfa
Medicago sativa
Cut grass
Various species
Desho
Pennisetum pedicellatum
Next?
Stevia
Stevia rebaudiana
Coffee
Coffea arabica
Lemon grass
Cymbopogon citratus
Avocado
Persea americana
Mango
Mangifera indica
Sustainability
At the moment we are establishing the farm with limited resources, which also limits our possibilities to invest in sustainability. However, we have clear intentions on the elements that should be part of the farm. On some of them we are already working, while others are part of our vision for the future.
Mixed farming
We believe that diversity is the key to resilience. We complement a wide crop rotation of vegetables, trees and grains with animal husbandry and beekeeping.
Trees on farm
By means of agroforestry with numerous perennial tree crops we aim to enhance soil stability and health as well as the system's biodiversity.
Social impact
We want to invest in the community school's facilities and link humanitarian projects to improve living conditions of vulnerable societal groups.
Green energy
The aim is to gradually introduce green energy sources to replace fossil fuel in our activities. Solar panels and wind turbines are some examples.
Efficient water
We are planning on establishing drip irrigation for all perennial crops. This way we reduce our water use while enhancing the farm's productivity.