Cargill Mexico and CIMMYT award top food security and sustainability projects in Mexico

Cargill Mexico and CIMMYT presented the 2023 edition of the Cargill-CIMMYT Award for Food Security and Sustainability, which aims to acknowledge and promote projects and actions that contribute to mitigating and resolving the food problems facing the country.

With this award, Cargill and CIMMYT seek to promote actions and projects that contain innovative ideas on technologies, productive inputs, agronomic practices, marketing models, collaboration schemes, among others, that result in a sustainable and scalable increase in agricultural production in Mexico.

From left to right, Fernando Guareschi, president of Cargill Mexico; winners Eduardo Cruz and Heriberto López, youth; Arturo Ortiz, opinion leader; Carlos Barragán, producer; Andrés Mandujano, researcher; and, Bram Govaerts, CIMMYT director general. (Photo: CIMMYT)

″The objective of this initiative is to identify and acknowledge technological innovations, actions, and practices that contribute to strengthening food security and sustainability in the Mexican countryside,″ said Fernando Guareschi, president of Cargill Mexico. ″The award-winning projects represent an achievement for the producers, researchers, opinion leaders, and young people who participate in each project. It is an indicator for us that we are on the right path to meet our goal of nourishing the world in a safe, responsible, and sustainable way.″

The 2023 edition of the award acknowledges innovations that lead to better integration of basic grain value chains, as well as productive market practices that improve the quality of life of producers in communities or agricultural centers.

″For CIMMYT, the partnership with Cargill has been key to recognizing and promoting the talent and innovation of the actors in the basic grains value chains in Mexico who share our determination to transform agricultural systems to make them more resilient, sustainable, and inclusive and, thus, strengthen food security for all Mexicans,″ said Bram Govaerts, CIMMYT director general.

Within the framework of the awards ceremony, the winning projects were recognized in categories: researchers, producers, opinion leaders, and youth in the Mexican agricultural sector.

The winners of the 2023 edition of the Cargill–CIMMYT Award were –

• Andrés Mandujano Bueno in the researchers category, with the project ″Algorithms to optimize the use of nitrogen fertilizer.″

• Carlos Barragán García in the producers category, with the project ″Family agriculture and agribusiness.″

• Arturo Javier Ortiz García in the opinion leaders category, with the project ″Agricultural Islands.″

• Eduardo Cruz Rojo in the youth category, with the projects ″New production methods for the Mezquital Valley area.″

In this edition, projects were assessed by a jury and a committee of experts from the agricultural and food sector, who had the responsibility of determining the winners. Projects for each category were assessed with specific criteria:

• Producers of basic grain production systems such as maize, wheat, barley, and sorghum.

• Scientists and researchers in agronomy, genetics, improvement of maize, wheat, barley, or sorghum, and information and telecommunications technologies applied to the agrifood sector.

• Leaders of associations of producers, technicians, and communication professionals who work in the agrifood sector in Mexico.

• Youth who have carried out outstanding activities in the sustainable agricultural sector in Mexico, have implemented a pilot program in their community, or have contributed to agricultural technological innovation.