The Department of Agricultural Development was founded in 1999 and is located in the city of New Orestiada. Its mission is to cultivate and promote the science of Agriculture oriented to new and updated technological developments, advancing scientific knowledge in areas of economics and social development and techniques and social development in the field of agriculture and especially in peripheral agricultural regions.

Initial financing for the establishment and operation of the Department of Agricultural Development was provided by the « Operational Programme for Education and Initial Vocational Training » (O.P. “Education”) with funds that came from the European Union and the Greek Public Sector. After the completion of the O.P. Education Program, the Department of Agricultural Development has been funded by the budget of the Democritus University of Thrace.

The Department of Agricultural Development is co-accommodated with the Department of Forestry and Management of the Environment and Natural Resources in four buildings with total area of 7.510 m2. The facilities of the institution are included in the urban fabric of the town of Orestiada located near the city centre. The initial placement of the Departments was done in a new building, which was granted by the Municipality of Orestiada.

The Department’s facilities

Today, the facilities of the Institution of DUTh in Orestiada include:

The main building, where the secretariats of the Departments, the library, the Technical Service Division and offices of the academic staff and the rest personnel are located. Also, the building includes a meeting chamber, a hall of 150 people capacity, five classrooms, four laboratories and ancillary areas.

The library of DUTh in Orestiada consists of the central exhibition room, the study room and the computer room offering 18 spaces to work with internet access. The library holds 8897 Book Volumes, 284 Journal Titles, 17 Encyclopedias, 74 Dictionaries και 32 CDs. The total amount of all undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD theses in the Faculty of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences is approximately 1680. Particularly, in the Department of Agricultural development have been completed 697 undergraduate, 191 postgraduate and 35 PhD theses. All members of the university community have access to e-databases of the Hellenic Academic Library Link (HEAL-Link, http://www.heal-link.gr).

The complex of auditoriums is 791 m2 and was given to use in 2000 consisting of two auditoriums with a total capacity of 280 people and ancillary areas

The laboratories building. It was built in 2002 and it has an area of 1781 m2. It accommodates laboratories, offices and ancillary rooms.

A modern greenhouse, which was given to use in 2007 and it has an area of 120 m2, serving educational and research needs.

The University canteen was built in 2004 and has an area of 71 m2.
The block of Students’ hostel. It is located at the junction of Mouzouri and Euripides streets in the urban fabric of Orestiada. It was delivered to use in 2009 and consists of the building of accommodation of 2040 m² in area and the building of cookery and restaurants of 433 m² in area. Also, it is supported by underground space of 953 m² in area. It has a capacity of 70 single and 2 double rooms and one room for persons with disabilities. It also contains seven single staff rooms and one double staff room. All rooms are fully equipped (furniture, private WC, TV, telephone, internet) and cover all modern specifications.

The farm of the Department. The educational and research needs of the Department of Agricultural Development are supported, partly, by a farm that was given to use by the National Agricultural Research Foundation NAGREF and is located near the railway station of the city, at the land of the Station of Agricultural Research.

Land for the construction of University Campus. DUTh has bought 35 hectares in Orestiada, where the University Campus will be constructed.

New building for Laboratories. The processes for the construction of a new building for Laboratories are ongoing; alongside the existing laboratories building.

DΙΜΙΤΡΑ Building: The former “ELGO – DIMITRA” Building was granted to Democritus University of Thrace in February 2016 in order to meet the educational and research needs of the School of Agriculture and Forestry. Specifically, the building installation is developed on a plot of 9,809.0 m2, and is located at the southeastern end of the city at a distance of about 1,000 meters from its center.