Academic authorities from Universidad Mexiquense del Bicentenario and representatives of the network of Community Colleges of Fresno visited CIMMYT to outline future collaborations to strengthen university education in sustainable agriculture.
Authors: CIMMYT contributors
On August 22, representatives from Universidad Mexiquense del Bicentenario and the Community Colleges of FresnoUSA visited the facilities of the global headquarters of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Texcoco, State of Mexico.
Both universities, which maintain collaborative ties, seek to enrich the education plans of their academic communities and strengthen curricula of careers oriented to agronomy and sustainable development by stimulating learning exchanges between students from both host countries Hence their interest in learning about scientific work and the different programs and projects promoted by CIMMYT.
After a tour and discussions with researchers and project leaders in the Research Center, the academic representatives expressed their intention to collaborate with CIMMYT. On one hand, to take advantage of the collaboration mechanisms already established with the academic sector -such as research stays- and, on the other hand, to explore options for the alignment of specific competencies.
“With the Universidad Mexiquense del Bicentenario, we recently set up a collaboration agreement, aiming to work along three broad lines: first, the incorporation of demonstration and research plots on 3 campuses, where agricultural technologies will be validated. The intention is for students to learn about the sustainable technologies promoted by CIMMYT, but also to develop research and generate data that can be of use to the region’s agriculture and the region’s producers,” said Jelle Van Loon, of CIMMYT.
The other lines of action with the Universidad Mexiquense del Bicentenario focus on training teachers in sustainable agriculture, soil fertility, alternative crops, and agroecological pest management, and revising curricula, particularly to develop new content to consolidate the foundations of sustainable agriculture at the University.
The interest of the University President, Juan Jaffet Millan Márquez, in establishing alliances to strengthen the skills of its graduates facilitated a visit from academic authorities from the network of Community Colleges of Fresno to CIMMYT. During this visit, collaboration opportunities were explored around the homologation of technical competencies degrees and curricula of both academic institutions, complemented by CIMMYT’s competency development schemes.
These collaboration modalities where universities and scientific research centers participate, open unique possibilities to have professionals trained at the highest level, with validity both in Mexico and in the United States, agreed the academic authorities and the representatives of CIMMYT.