Organized by the Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Institute of Agricultural Sciences of the Autonomous University of Baja California (UABC), the First International Symposium on Sustainable Agriculture is held in Baja California .
The meeting marks the beginning of a series of training events and research activities in sustainable agriculture.
Tlaxcala, Tlax., September 17, 2021 (Editorial Office) .- The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in coordination with institutions and study centers, promote the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices in the Mexican countryside in order to move towards profitable agriculture that is respectful of natural resources.
The federal agency, the Institute of Agricultural Sciences (ICA) of the Autonomous University of Baja California (UABC) and the International Corn and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) held the First International Symposium on Sustainable Agriculture, with the adoption of the systems of agricultural production of the MasAgro Program.
Among the activities of the meeting were a series of training events and research activities in the northwestern region of Mexico.
The symposium, held on September 9 and 10 virtually, was attended by technicians, producers, professors and students from Baja California and other states.
The vice-rector of the UABC, Mexicali campus, Gisela Montero Alpírez, indicated that among the objectives of the symposium and future activities framed in this collaboration is to encourage the public, private, social and academic sectors to join forces to address the needs and problems typical of the northwest region.
Likewise, he said, generate impact solutions that help improve society.
He emphasized that the symposium adds to the university’s objective of disseminating knowledge and encouraging research, technological development and innovation in the state.
The state representative of the Secretariat of Agriculture in Baja California, Juan Manuel Martínez Núñez, asserted that to the extent that natural resources are protected, production can continue.
He affirmed that producers have the challenge of feeding a greater number of people and the sustainable use of resources is the only thing that will guarantee that it is achieved. Only farmers will be able to make it happen, with their efforts and the support of scientific research and academia, he observed.
CIMMYT representative, Jelle Van Loon, said that although the pandemic has made spaces for the exchange of knowledge mostly virtual, it also continues to support directly in the field through physical infrastructure, which is the product of inter-institutional collaboration.
He stressed that the region has a research platform – Mexicali-Baja California, installed with the UABC – and works with specialized machinery points in sustainable agriculture.
The director of the ICA of the UABC, Daniel González Mendoza, indicated that the symposium arose from “the search for technological alternatives that promote a balance in the use of fertilizers and an integrated management of pests and diseases.
He mentioned that, through this meeting promoted by researchers from the UABC in conjunction with CIMMYT, interaction between researchers is encouraged to bring farmers the advantages of sowing under the guidelines of sustainable agriculture that impacts on the generation of a healthy and profitable field for the benefit of the population.
Baja California is one of the four main wheat-producing states in the country – more than half of the state production is cultivated in the Mexicali Valley – but the profitability of its agricultural activity has registered a reduction due to the wear and tear of agricultural land. cultivation and high production costs under the conventional tillage system that predominates in the area.
In this context, the symposium and collaboration between the institutions that made it possible extends the scope of sustainable agriculture promoted by MasAgro-Cultivos for Mexico, an initiative promoted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and CIMMYT.
This collaboration will also allow the producers of the state and the region to have better tools to keep their agricultural activity profitable in the face of the effects of climate change and in a context of degraded soils where it is essential to conserve natural resources.
Among the topics addressed at the meeting are those of Conservation Agriculture, Agroecological Pest Management, Comprehensive Weed Management and Fertilization Management in Corn and Wheat Crops.
Specialists and researchers shared their knowledge, such as the principal scientist at CIMMYT, Iván Ortiz-Monasterio, the coordinator of Strategic Research of the same Center, Nele Verhulst, and by the National Institute of Forestry, Agricultural and Livestock Research (INIFAP), Edgardo Cortez Mondaca .
In addition, the researcher responsible for Sustainable Agriculture Projects in Guanajuato in collaboration with CIMMYT and the state government, Bartolo González, among others.
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