Eight students from the University Catholic of Louvain (UCL), Belgium, who are working on their Master’s degrees, visited CIMMYT 22 and 29 September as part of a traveling seminar on integrated plant production.
“Thanks to CIMMYT’s head of wheat pathology, Dr. Etienne Duveiller, our group had a real hands-on experience with field trials related to disease resistance and we now understand how pathology is part of the breeding process,” said Claude Bragard, UCL professor.
The students participated in discussions with Mexican farmers and CIMMYT staff, particularly about conservation agriculture. They also saw first-hand how science-based knowledge and the dissemination of adapted technologies can make agriculture more profitable and help improve farmer livelihoods.
“This was the discovery of a new country, another culture, and of agriculture diversity in various environments,” Bragard said. “This great experience will be remembered for a long time and has already triggered new interests and inquires.”
