On Wednesday, October 14th, from 10:00-11:15, Dr. Bram Govaerts, a Belgian scientist and recipient of 2014 Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application, will be making a stop at ADM. This visit is part of a trip to Des Moines that includes a stop at the World Food Prize. Dr. Govaerts currently serves as Associate Director of the Global Conservation Agricultural Program at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico.
Dr. Govaerts worked extensively in Ethiopia in a network of local universities and non-governmental organizations to extend conservation agriculture technologies for the smallholder farmers in the country’s highland areas as part of his Ph.D. research. He has also developed close interactions with India in rice-wheat systems through active South-South exchange of remote sensing technologies and smart mechanization prototypes. Currently he supports efforts in Central America to apply the lessons learned from MasAgro’s “Take it to The Farmer” to Guatemala and other countries through strong interactions with a local NGO and interactions with the local government institutions.
Our guest’s lecture is titled “Take it to The Farmer: inspiration, innovation and sustainable intensification for impact.” emphasizing how to help sustainable farming methods in countries around the world.
He will present for 30 minutes and then take questions from students and faculty.