Bayad El Arab, is a disadvantaged district of Beni Suef province, located 130 kms south of Cairo. It has little farming land because of rocky areas and the advancing desert. Yet the farm was not profitable enough to meet the high expense to run an irrigation system. Technologies such as the water hammer pump and compost making were introduced, green houses were constructed and renovated, and soil tests were conducted in 1996. The farm has since been improved to be a better equipped demonstration facility, and has become self-supportive.
Plant breeding is conducted in a green house.
Improved agricultural technologies for Egyptian farmers are necessary to reclaim the desert. Bayad El Arab demonstration farm is located 1.5 km away from the east side of the Nile. ICA launched the desert reclamation project 20 years ago in Bayad El Arab. Now, about 1,000 fruit trees are growing on the farm. Around the farm, Eucalyptus trees are planted as a wind break.