Newswise — Three Virginia Cooperative Extension agents and two faculty members in Virginia Tech's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences are blogging about their experiences during a 17-day trek across South Africa.
The blog, Spanning the Globe: Virginia Cooperative Extension in South Africa, is a public, Web-based journal of their experiences.
The five globetrotters, who are studying disease management practices for agronomic crops, hope their journey to farms and research centers throughout South Africa will help them teach Virginia farmers how to fight plant diseases.
"We are especially interested in learning how South African farmers manage the potentially devastating disease Asian soybean rust, which was found for the first time on Virginia soybeans in the fall of last year," said Mary Ann Hansen, who will lead the trip and who also manages the Plant Disease Clinic, a service laboratory that identifies plant diseases for Virginia Cooperative Extension agents. "South Africans have been dealing with this disease since 2001, when it first entered their country. We will also observe and learn about disease management in small grains and 'maize,' the South African term for corn."
The three agents are Matthew Lewis of Northumberland County, David Moore of Middlesex County, and Robyn Whittington of Amelia County. The two faculty members in the Department of Plant Pathology, Physiology, and Weed Sciences are plant pathology instructor Hansen and plant pathology professor Erik Stromberg.
Hansen and her team left the United States on March 1. After they return on Saturday, March 17, the three agents will share their knowledge with other agents in the Virginia Cooperative Extension system. This program debunks the myth that international exchange programs of this nature are one-sided and do not benefit U.S. agriculture.
"My whole life I have heard people say that the U.S. has given away its agricultural technology to foreign countries who have nothing to give in return," Lewis said last month while preparing for the trip. "But from what I can gather, South Africa has much knowledge to share in terms of production technology, pest management, and rural policy. I am really looking forward to learning about their successes and using that knowledge to benefit Virginia agriculture."
Virginia Tech's agricultural exchange in South Africa began in 1997. That year, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, partnered with the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein, South Africa, to provide an international experience to students and faculty members from both Blacksburg and Bloemfontein. More than 80 students from the two universities have participated in the program to date.
In 2005, the U.S. Department of Agriculture funded "Development of an International Center in South Africa for Studies in Agriculture and Related Life Sciences," a program to boost the relationship between Virginia Tech and the University of the Free State and expand the opportunities for collaborative research, teaching, outreach, and student exchange activities in South Africa. Hansen is one of the co-authors of the grant application. Richard Fell, professor of entomology at Virginia Tech, is the principal investigator. In addition to an effort to revitalize the student exchange, the grant funds the internship and training program that makes it possible for Virginia Cooperative Extension agents to travel to South Africa. The grant aims to enhance the capabilities of the agents and provide a transfer of knowledge back to Virginia farmers.
This is the second year that Virginia Cooperative Extension agents have had the opportunity to observe management practices on South African farms. Jim McKenna, a professor of crop and soil environmental science at Virginia Tech, led last year's trip, which focused on small ruminant animals and dry-land pasture management. McKenna and his colleagues stayed in Bloemfontein, one of South Africa's three capital cities, at night and traveled to rural South African farms during the day. Unlike them, Hansen and her team will begin their journey in the city and then travel from one location to the next, not returning to Bloemfontein until the end of their travels. Although finding an Internet hookup may be difficult at times, Hansen hopes the team will be able to blog about their experiences as often as possible.
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