_{UB students (l to r): Karissa Polor and Carlos Gomez explain the steps in seed storage process to visiting high school students.}

by Orlando Pulido (Freelance Writer)

SANTA ELENA TOWN, Cayo District, Sun. Mar. 30, 2025

The University of Belize (UB) at its Central Farm-based campus held an Open Day on March 28, 2025. UB students were actively involved in guiding visitors to the eight stations located around the large campus.

At one of the stations, UB students Karissa Polor and Carlos Gomez spoke about the various stages in conserving the Leucaena leucocephala seeds. Better known as the lead tree, it is good fodder for livestock. Its leaves and pods are rich in nutrients and can enrich the soil.

At another station, UB student John Cordova stood ready to explain to students the process involved in producing biochar from organic material using the kiln. One of biochar’s key features is its ability to lock carbon.

At yet another station, agricultural techniques laboratory officer, Drewyan Harrison explored with students the process of micropropagation.

_{Drewyan Harrison, agricultural techniques laboratory officer at UB Central Farm.}

“We do micropropagation, and it is where we take small plant tissues and we grow them in a sterile medium that contains nutrients and all the regular stuff plants need, and we grow them in a controlled environment,” she said.

The micropropagation laboratory at the UB campus in Central Farm was opened last year, thanks to Taiwan’s International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF). According to Harrison, her laboratory can produce disease-free plants. “So, we are currently working with them [ICDF] to produce banana varieties that are resistant to TR4 [a strain of fungus]. We are able to produce clones of plants, so if we have a variety that is resistant to Fusarium, we can grow all these plants, which afterward will also be resistant to Fusarium,” she said.

The Fusarium, another harmful fungus, is currently posing significant challenges to Belize’s sugar industry.

UB’s partners in development were also present to provide students with information on their various activities. Mauricio Guevarra, representative of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) in Belize, and Willie Chan, technical coordinator also at IICA, were at the educational front on the New World Screw Worm at UB on Friday.

_{(l-r) Mauricio Guevarra, IICA representative, and Willie Chan, technical coordinator of IICA, at the educational front on the New World Screw Worm at the University of Belize campus on Friday}

Maximiliano Ortega, Director of U.B.’s Central Farm Campus, explained that the Open Day was to serve as a tool of recruitment and a means to highlight what activities the students were involved in. Ortega stressed the role of research and development at a tertiary-level institution.

_{Maximiliano Ortega, Director of UB Central Farm Campus}

“The entire university is moving more towards more activities in terms of outreach, community outreach, and research, so the whole faculty is being encouraged to research; but here in Central Farm campus, we already do research, especially at the Bachelor’s degree level”, he said.

Ortega mentioned that a student had discovered that potato vines can be used as chicken feed, which has the potential of reducing dependency on more expensive inputs, “because up to the last experiment, it was replaced up to 30%.”

Ortega further outlined the role of research to Amandala. “One of the critical things the university should be doing, and we are doing, is research. So, as the different sectors of the Government or the Ministry start to recognize the need for more research in terms of climate change, then we should be able to find the funds to do research in climate change … the countries that are going forward in different areas, they are investing in research, so I believe that is the direction our country should go towards, and involve academia as a critical part of that investment in the way forward,” he said.

Another innovative center at the UB campus in Central Farm is the food processing unit. Funded by UB, the center can conserve the overproduced carrots and tomatoes. Led by Lisa Canto, the center can add value to pork and beef.

By 2:00 p.m. on Friday, over 400 students had visited UB in Central Farm. Those were from the Mopan Technical High School, Alvin Young Nazarene High School, Belmopan Baptist High School, Valley of Peace Seventh Day Adventist High School, Bella Vista Government High School, Belize Rural High School, Eden Seventh Day Adventist High School, and the Independent High School. The students were able to walk away with agricultural knowledge that will last a lifetime.