MasAgro workshop builds Mexican capacity in seed production
A seed multiplication specialist takes notes in the field during the first workshop on “Evaluating Maize Germplasm for Biotic and Abiotic Stress”, held by researchers from CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program during 22-26 August 2011.
Participating were more than 20 specialists who are already actively involved in the International Maize Yield Improvement Strategy of the Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture (MasAgro) initiative. They included field technicians from medium- and small-scale seed companies operating in more than 10 Mexican states, as well as representatives from major public research centers such as Mexico’s National Forestry, Agricultural, and Livestock Research Institute (INIFAP) and the autonomous universities of the states of Nayarit, Morelos, and State of Mexico, plus public sector organizations in Colombia and Nicaragua.
The workshop covered biotic and abiotic stress evaluation, sampling, use of computer tools to manage field trials, statistics, and data interpretation, among other subjects relating to maize improvement and phenotyping. In this way, MasAgro is promoting the professional development of technicians responsible for key seed production processes that lead to the adoption of improved materials among medium- and small-scale farmers in Mexico. This is the first of several workshops by MasAgro which will focus on technology transfer and capacity strengthening for technicians participating in seed multiplication processes.
MasAgro is a ten-year initiative in which smallholder farmers will work with agricultural research and development organizations to raise and stabilize their crop yields, increase their incomes, and reduce the effects of climate change on Mexico’s agricultural output, through better maize and wheat varieties, conservation agriculture cropping practices, and other technologies. It is a partnership among the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA), CIMMYT, and numerous public, private, and farmer organizations in Mexico. It aims to increase annual rainfed maize production in Mexico by five to nine million tons and raise national bread wheat output by 350,000 tons within a decade.
Photo credit: X. Fonseca/CIMMYT.
For more information, see CIMMYT's blog story at: blog.cimmyt.org/index.php/2011/08/cimmyt-holds-the-first-....
The MasAgro website (in Spanish) is at: masagro.cimmyt.org/.
MasAgro workshop builds Mexican capacity in seed production
A seed multiplication specialist takes notes in the field during the first workshop on “Evaluating Maize Germplasm for Biotic and Abiotic Stress”, held by researchers from CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program during 22-26 August 2011.
Participating were more than 20 specialists who are already actively involved in the International Maize Yield Improvement Strategy of the Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture (MasAgro) initiative. They included field technicians from medium- and small-scale seed companies operating in more than 10 Mexican states, as well as representatives from major public research centers such as Mexico’s National Forestry, Agricultural, and Livestock Research Institute (INIFAP) and the autonomous universities of the states of Nayarit, Morelos, and State of Mexico, plus public sector organizations in Colombia and Nicaragua.
The workshop covered biotic and abiotic stress evaluation, sampling, use of computer tools to manage field trials, statistics, and data interpretation, among other subjects relating to maize improvement and phenotyping. In this way, MasAgro is promoting the professional development of technicians responsible for key seed production processes that lead to the adoption of improved materials among medium- and small-scale farmers in Mexico. This is the first of several workshops by MasAgro which will focus on technology transfer and capacity strengthening for technicians participating in seed multiplication processes.
MasAgro is a ten-year initiative in which smallholder farmers will work with agricultural research and development organizations to raise and stabilize their crop yields, increase their incomes, and reduce the effects of climate change on Mexico’s agricultural output, through better maize and wheat varieties, conservation agriculture cropping practices, and other technologies. It is a partnership among the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA), CIMMYT, and numerous public, private, and farmer organizations in Mexico. It aims to increase annual rainfed maize production in Mexico by five to nine million tons and raise national bread wheat output by 350,000 tons within a decade.
Photo credit: X. Fonseca/CIMMYT.
For more information, see CIMMYT's blog story at: blog.cimmyt.org/index.php/2011/08/cimmyt-holds-the-first-....
The MasAgro website (in Spanish) is at: masagro.cimmyt.org/.