Costa Rica faculty visit Chatham farms

Two faculty members from University of Costa Rica recently visited farms in Chatham County in November, as part of an information exchange with scientists at N.C. State University and N.C. A&T State University. Dr. Augusto Rojas Bourrillon, animal scientist, and Dr. Helga Blanco Metzler, entomologist and head of the Crop Protection Research Centre at the University of Costa Rica,  are working in areas of sustainable agriculture and organic agricultural production. In 2009, N.C. State signed a formal Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Costa Rica. Rojas and Blanco traveled to North Carolina to follow up on existing connections and relationships at the universities and  and to develop programs of mutual interest. The N.C. Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (NC SARE) program hosted the guests,  in cooperation with faculty associated with the Center for Environmental Farming Systems. Photos of the visit are available on Debbie Roos’s Growing Small Farms website. Roos is a sustainable agriculture Extension agent with N.C. Cooperative Extension in Chatham County.