Many young and eager minds passed through CIMMYT-Mexico this past month. Three students from the University of Wisconsin, USA, visited from 8-16 August while 12 from Texas A&M University, USA, stayed from 12-22 August. The goals of both groups were to further their understanding of agricultural systems in Mexico and to observe CIMMYT’s work with international research.
The students completed a comprehensive program that contained all aspects of CIMMYT’s research areas and included field visits and presentations from the maize, wheat, and conservation agriculture programs and the Crops Research Information Laboratory (CRIL) at El Batán. Students also had the opportunity to explore other CIMMYT stations in Mexico: at Tlaltizapán the groups learned about maize and double haploids, at Agua Fria they discussed quality protein maize and met with local farmers, and in Toluca they learned about bread wheat improvement and traveled to local subsistence farmer communities. Students from Texas A&M also visited the research station of Mexico’s National Institute of Forestry, Agriculture, and Livestock Research (INIFAP) near Chapingo and the INIFAP headquarters, where they were received by director Pedro Brajcich.
This is the third time a group of students from Texas A&M has visited CIMMYT. Each time they have been accompanied by great friends of the center: Ronald Cantrell and Steve Hague. Special thanks to all scientists and staff who gave their time and expertise to make the visits a success.
