IICA explores possible partnership with prestigious research center in Mexico

San Jose, Costa Rica, March 25, 2011 (IICA). In its search for new partners to support agricultural production in its 34 member countries, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) invited authorities from the Mexican Center for Research and Advanced Studies (CINVESTAV) to its Headquarters in Costa Rica.

René Asomoza, Director General of the Center, believes that biotechnology is an area in which ties with IICA could be strengthened, noting for example that CINVESTAV researchers are currently trying to identify those characteristics that make some plants resistant to change in climatic conditions.

The CINVESTAV has 29 Masters degree and 27 Doctoral degree programs, coordinated by 610 researchers, 90% of whom belong to the National System of Researchers, of the National Science and Technology Council (CONACYT) of Mexico.

At present, some 2,700 students from Mexico and other countries are pursuing degrees on nine campuses. According to Asomoza, in 2010, 178 Doctoral degrees and 378 Masters degrees were awarded by the Center in the exact and natural sciences, biology, health sciences, social science and humanities, as well as technology and engineering science, at its campuses located in Mexico City, Irapuato, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Saltillo, Tamaulipas, Querétaro, Merida and Tlaxcala.

For Victor M. Villalobos, Director General of IICA, partners are needed to achieve the objective of making agriculture more efficient in the Americas and, in this way, overcome challenges as complex as climate change and food security. A partnership with CINVESTAV would make it possible, among other things, to send researchers from the Institute’s member countries to the Center to receive training and pursue studies in Mexico.

This objective is in keeping with the 2010-2014 Medium-term Plan of IICA. The meeting with Asomoza and Luis Rafael Herrera, Director of the National Genomics for Biodiversity Laboratory (a unit of CINVESTAV), will provide an opportunity to exchange information and program actions to create a knowledge network between IICA and the Center.

Herrera, along with another group of scientists, succeeded in unraveling the complete genome of maize, an essential part of the Mexican diet and those of other countries of the region. The results of their research were announced in 2008.

He indicated that one of the strengths of our nations is their biodiversity. However, if we are to benefit from and protect it against climate change, much more study is required.

Even though, in his judgment, the consequences of variations in the global climate are not yet fully understood, he believes some agricultural lands in the Americas will become less productive, while other areas, not used solely for agriculture today, will be better suited for the cultivation of crops.

CINVESTAV has signed research agreements with counterparts in Argentina, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Peru, and the United States, with institutions in Australia, Belgium, Estonia, France, Holland, India, and Spain.

More information: 
bryan.munoz@iica.int