This is how the National Federation of Cereal and Legume Producers (FENALCE) announces on its website that on 30 June 2010 it celebrated half a century of its establishment. CIMMYT’s relationship with FENALCE dates back to the 1980s, with training for Colombian researchers and joint development of improved maize varieties.
Since 2002, CIMMYT has been working with the Federation in a collaborative project to grow maize among coffee trees. To celebrate its anniversary, FENALCE organized various regional events focused on cereal production. Two CIMMYT researchers from Mexico and Colombia, George Mahuku and Luis Narro, attended the official ceremony in Bogotá, which was chaired by Colombia’s deputy agriculture minister Juan Camilo Salazar. Mahuku was invited to present a seminar on “The impact of maize diseases on food production in Latin America,” while Narro was recognized by FENALCE for his support to cereals research in Colombia.
Jairo Manrique and Henry Vanegas, FENALCE officers, gave speeches that included mentions of the maize and wheat varieties resulting from collaboration with CIMMYT that are being sown in Colombia, and the benefits of CIMMYT’s training for their researchers.
