Grad Students Attend WoCo Event in Mexico
August 19, 2008
Note: Two of our grad students David Ward and Mladen Grbovic attended an WoCo (world congress event) hosted by IAAS this summer in Mexico. The following was submitted by them to share with us their experiences and pictures from their trip.
About IAAS
Founded in 1957 in Tunis by 8 countries, the International Association of Students in Agricultural and Related Sciences is at the moment one of the world's biggest student organizations and one of the leading agricultural student associations. IAAS gathers students studying, majoring, or researching in agriculture and related areas like environmental sciences, forestry, food sciences, landscape architecture etc. Its committees are spread in universities in over 40 countries worldwide.
IAAS is a place where agricultural students from all over the world meet each other, experience new mentalities and cultures, travel and see new places and learn about all aspects of agriculture together with their future colleagues.
The aims of IAAS are to promote the exchange of knowledge, information and ideas among students, and to improve the mutual understanding between countries and cultures. To do this, we organise activities like seminars, working camps, international meetings, exchange weeks, an international exchange program, small-scale development projects etc.
Participation
Since IAAS has been around for more than 50 years and represents over 40 countries, it has had a long time to build relations with governments and global agricultural corporations, which provide monetary support to the organization to reduce the costs for participants. These sponsors have also helped open the door to careers and research opportunities for IAAS members once they graduate from their universities.
WoCo in Mexico
Every year IAAS hosts a world congress event (WoCo) in a country designated 2 years prior. Each WoCo is divided into 2 parts: General assembly and seminar. The general assembly is held during the first week of WoCo and covers all of the business for the following year including electing new officials, voting to accept new countries into IAAS, sharing new ideas, etc. The seminar part of WoCo follows immediately after the general assembly and usually lasts between 1 and 2 weeks. The purpose of the seminar is to give the visiting countries a glimpse into the culture, beauty, and agriculture of the host country.
This year, WoCo was hosted by Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey in Mexico. Approximately 80 people representing 15 countries were in attendance. The overall theme for this WoCo was biodiversity now, food for tomorrow. The places visited include CIMMYT (International Wheat and Maize Improvement Center), Koppert Biological Systems, an organic cactus farm, La Redonda winery, a chili pepper greenhouse and production facility, Modelo brewery, Jose Cuervo farms and distillery, Driscoll’s Berries, an avocado farm, Barranca de Cupatzitzio National Park, as well several popular sightseeing destinations. Furthermore, the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey put together a series of lectures and workshops related to food production, plant systems, and economic impacts on food security at the university.
Traditions
At every WoCo event there are two long-standing traditions: a trade fair and a university fair. The trade fair is one of the most looked forward to events at every IAAS meeting. The purpose of the trade fair is to give each country the opportunity to share a small taste of their country to the rest of the world by sharing drinks, candies, and traditional foods with the other participants. Similarly, the university fair allows each visiting university to share information about the academic programs and opportunities their university has to offer.
David's Experience
For me, not growing up in an agricultural environment, this event has given me a better understanding and appreciation for the field of agricultural sciences. You can learn a lot of things in a classroom from professors and from textbooks, but nothing compares to seeing it all in action. There were two events in particular that brought my education to higher level. The first was the visit to CIMMYT. I have read articles and heard professors talk about conservation tillage in several classes, but I have never seen what that entails or the effects it has on crop production until this trip. When we visited CIMMYT we were taken to some of their experimental fields and shown two plots of corn side-by-side. One plot had been planted conventionally and the other by conservation tillage. The plot planted using conservation tillage was greener, taller, and more productive than the one next to it. We also saw the same thing with several other crops. From the fields, we then were given the opportunity to see the equipment used to plant both plots. The second event was a visit to one of Monsanto’s experimental fields. Again my previous knowledge of GM crops was strictly based on articles and professors opinions. We spent a good portion of the afternoon walking through the corn and sorghum fields learning every step in the process of developing GM seeds. We saw the workers in the fields pollinating each plant one-by-one and given the opportunity to do it ourselves.
All in all I am very thankful that I had the opportunity to go on this trip. I believe my knowledge and understanding in several areas of agriculture have been brought to a higher level and I hope that in the future more students from the University of Tennessee can participate in these events.
Mladen's Experience
Past World Congress of IAAS in Mexico was one of many events I attended as a member of this organization in last couple of years. But somehow this one was special. It is not just because Mexico was one of the destinations I always wanted to visit, but it was also a chance for me as an international student at UT to see friends from my home country. The sites visited during the seminar were chosen to present biodiversity in Mexican agriculture and included many organic farms, greenhouses, grain institutes, food processing industries etc. Before this trip I never had a chance to see cactus production farm and taste its products, agave farm, avocado plantation, pepper trees and especially for me as an agricultural economist to hear about technology used, production costs, and marketing of these products.
It was also an opportunity to meet Mexican culture, tradition, mentality, food and music. On this kind of trips, you have a chance to see not just the most representative attractions and tourist sites of the country, but also ordinary people in small villages on 3000m altitude for example. Anyway, maybe the most important thing is that we made friendships with students we met from all around the world. Next year World Congress will be hosted by IAAS Indonesia and I honestly hope that some of students from our institute will have a chance to attend it.
View David and Mladen's pictures