Radmilovac (Serbian Cyrillic: Радмиловац) is a suburban settlement of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, and an experimental farm of the University of Belgrade's Faculty of Agriculture. It is located in the Belgrade municipality of Grocka. It is also known for the hotel of the same name.
Location
Radmilovac is actually a westernmost extension of the Belgrade's suburb of Vinča (to which it makes no urban connections), on the very border with the neighboring Leštane. It is located north of the road of Smederevski put which connects Belgrade and the town of Smederevo. It is located 14 kilometers north-east of downtown Belgrade, between Vinča and Kaluđerica with Leštane being located right across the Smederevski put. Right behind the settlement is the Vinča Nuclear Institute.
Farm
History
The experimental agricultural farm of Radmilovac, a section of the Faculty of Agriculture in Belgrade is the original core of the neighborhood. Farm originated from the lands bequested to the Faculty by the industrialist, deputy and judge Milan Vukićević in 1941, when he died. Vukićević left the farm estate for the practical education in all types of agriculture. He originally purchased from the municipalities of Vinča and Kaluđerica. The estate already had several buildings. In one section of the administrative building there is a museum "Radmilovac", dedicated to Vukićević.
Milan's wife Radmila Vukićević was the first manager of the farm from 1941 to 1945 when she died, too. In 1947 the farm was named Radmilovac in her honor (Serbian for “Radmila’s place”). It was also in 1947 when the faculty took over the farm, due to the World War II and post-war developments in the state. After World War II the land was nationalized, returned to the Faculty in the 1960s, taken by the state again and given to the PKB company, main agricultural supplier of the Belgrade market. In the late 1980s the farm was finally returned to the Faculty again. The reconstruction and expansion of the farm began in 2006, with new small fishponds and projected halls and covered areas.
Characteristics
Today the farm, mainly known for its orchards, covers an area of 86 hectares. It is the largest agricultural gene bank in eastern and southeastern Europe.
Agriculture
Arable land covers 10 hectares and includes several large greenhouses. Products of Radmilovac can be bought on the farm. They include wines, brandies, seedlings, but also some unusual products like a tomato jam.
Beer
A ceramic container with small hole-like marks on the inside, was discovered in a Neolithic house at the nearby Vinča archaeological site. Discovered in the late 2010s, it was dated to 5,000 BC, and the marks were consistent with the ones made by the alcoholic fermentation. Inside the same house, abundant quantity of grains was discovered, too. Archaeologists from the site, and archaeobotanists from the University of Massachusetts Boston, conducted an experiment in Radmilovac. They planted ancient varieties of wheat and barley, and then used the grains to produce mildly alcoholic "Neolithic beer", resembling boza.
Fruits
Orchards cover 15 hectares and are populated by apples, plums, peaches and pears, including one peach cultivar created here. Trees are planted differently from the usual way, with lesser space between them, only one meter apart (up to 3.000 seedlings per hectare). Anti-hail net is placed between the trees and a drip irrigation system is introduced. One section is reserved for the old local and new worldwide cultivars, including hundreds of unique fruit brands. Internationally known type of brandies are being produced here.
Vineyards
Vineyards spread over 13 hectares. Farm developed 23 new grape cultivars, 15 table and 8 wine varieties. Yield varies from 35 to 60 tons per year, with 20 tons internationally recognized brands of wines made of it.