Tag: ICAMEX

On October 4, Javier Peña, head of CIMMYT’s cereal quality laboratory, and Fernando Delgado, superintendent of the Toluca research station, talked to farmers in Jilotepec, near Toluca, at an agricultural fair hosted by ICAMEX, the agricultural research institute for the state of Mexico. “Farmers were very receptive to information on conservation agriculture and eager to learn about fertilizers and weed control to improve their crops,” says Peña. Many asked about buying seed and the characteristics of the improved wheat varieties of ICAMEX, such as yield, sowing time, and end-use quality.

Over 1,000 farmers and small business owners attended the annual fair, which showcased ICAMEX products and services, such as varieties of several crops, types of fertilizers and pesticides, and technical assistance for machinery. Pedro Mijares, the director general of ICAMEX, was also at the fair, as this year marks 20 years since the creation of the Institute. CIMMYT has provided improved, experimental wheat germplasm to ICAMEX for close to 15 years. “Accepting the invitation of ICAMEX to have a display at the fair enables us to show our commitment to local Mexican initiatives,” adds Peña. As part of a federal wheat partnership, CIMMYT is also working with INIFAP and the Colegio de Postgraduados to develop new and improved wheat varieties in Mexico. Delgado and Peña give special thanks to the CIMMYT design team for the eye-catching, informative posters they prepared.

Using the conventional practices for growing maize in the state of Mexico—heavy tillage combined with removing and marketing residues—farmers are actually losing money, said CIMMYT research affiliate Bram Govaerts, during his invited presentation at a forum on results of projects conducted with the state of Mexico’s Institute for Training, Research, and Development in Agriculture (ICAMEX), on 12 September 2006.

“Many people were shocked to hear that,” explains Govaerts, who since 2002 has worked with Ken Sayre investigating and analyzing the results of the conservation agriculture trial begun at El Batán in 1991. “But when you consider the reduced labor costs of, say, zerotillage and residue retention, plus the higher crop yields that result, and compare that to the expense of removing and selling residues and the soil degradation that appears after five years or so, then conservation agriculture clearly wins as the money-making option.”

Held at the ICAMEX facilities in Toluca, the capital of the state of Mexico, the presentations were attended by 50 or more researchers, farmers, and officials, including state Secretary of Agriculture Arturo Osornio Sánchez, and ICAMEX Director General Jaime Segura Lazcano. The ICAMEX project, which is a collaboration between Cinvestav, Mexico’s Research and Advanced Studies Center; UAEM, the Autonomous University of Mexico State; and CIMMYT, and began in 2005, involves both field research and extension with state farmers.

“We’ve drawn a lot on the expertise and interest of Fernando Delgado Ramos, Superintendent of CIMMYT’s Toluca research station, who has actively promoted zero-tillage and other resource-conserving practices for maize farming in Mexico,” says Govaerts, who is with CIMMYT as a PhD student from K.U. Leuven Belgium and funded by VLIRUDC, Flemish Interuniversity Council – University Development Cooperation.