Interview Director of the Central Farm Campus and Chair of the Agriculture Department department, University of Belize, Maximiliano Ortega, Central Farm, Cayo, Belize
Habitat magazine tells about agriculture, forests and environment. The collaborators come from different backgrounds and delve into topics related to their work.
The interview is limited to these topics, their study and dissemination are the objectives of the magazine. The interview formula is not new, since it has been used in the past to understand the thinking and the way of acting in the environmental field of other personalities from the professional world.
The quarterly online magazine is sent by email (around 3,000 addresses) and by WhatsApp (800 contacts). The magazine comes out in Italian, it is prepared for English and Spanish, it will be published in these two languages shortly.
1. Preview: describe who you are, where your work is located, which are your functions, name of the school and the aim of the organization.
I am the Director of the Central Farm Campus and the Chair of the Department of Agriculture at the University of Belize. While the university is state-owned, it operates as a statutory body with autonomy. It receives partial funding from the government and partial funding from student fees,
making it a public institution, not a private one.
In my role as director and chair, I oversee all academic activities, including managing students, programs, and faculty, as well as setting teaching standards. Additionally, I am responsible for
managing production activities within the department.
The Department of Agriculture engages in several key activities, including teaching, research, and agricultural production. The production aspect is designed for teaching, experimentation, and value addition, providing students with a comprehensive understanding of the entire value chain.
Currently, these activities are not profit-oriented. To graduate, agronomy students are required to complete a thesis, which includes an applied experimentation component.
The main objective of the university is to teach, conduct research, and provide service to the nation. The central farm unit has the same plus agricultural production. The university is key in building in these areas, especially in research, to better service our country.
2. Is your work taken into consideration by citizens and by the political party? What difficulties do you find?
The university's background is an amalgamation of various institutes, The Belize College of Agriculture (now the Department of Agriculture) being one of them. No problem in general.
The governments, as they come in, support Central Farm to different extents, but it is strategically placed at the central farm, where the Ministry of Agriculture does provide some support with student engagement.
3. In the modern world, with all the difficulties of the case (Covid, prevalence of information through TV and social channels, discontent of the young public with reading) it is a difficult job to publish a magazine that deals with environmental issues. Do you have any suggestion for us in this regard?
As a university, we have a portal where professors publish their scientific works; you could go and see it so you can get an idea; the portal is public and is dedicated to agricultural research https://jobr.ub.edu.bz/index.php/ubrjj
4. How many students are graduated each year in your school?
The university offers two programs in agriculture: a 2-year Associate's Degree for agricultural technicians and a 4-year Bachelor's Degree for agricultural engineers. Each year, approximately 25 students graduate, with 20 to 25 earning the Associate's Degree and 10 completing the Bachelor's Degree. Currently, there is no professional licensing body or state exam for agricultural engineers, although discussions about implementing these measures are ongoing, with no final decision yet. Many graduates of the Bachelor's program choose to work abroad, indicating that the training provided is of high quality.
5. Main herbaceous and tree crops that your school studies.
At our university, our mission is to support and enhance the agricultural sector. We focus on traditional crops such as citrus fruits, sugarcane, corn, and beans while also incorporating non-traditional crops like beekeeping, aquaculture, pitaya (Selenicereus undatus), and coffee (Coffea spp.). Additionally, we explore livestock farming and agroforestry-pastoral systems as key areas of study. Our research emphasizes silvopastoral systems, which integrate trees, forage, and livestock to improve grazing and livestock management. These systems may include forest species such as teak (Tectona grandis), melina (Gmelina arborea), mahogany (Swietenia humilis), guanabana (Annona muricata), and Spanish cedar (Cedrela odorata), planted at approximately 80 trees per hectare. Combined with forage legumes, these species contribute to soil enrichment, increase protein content in forage, and reduce methane emissions from livestock. The primary objective is to enhance pasture productivity while ensuring ecological sustainability. Silvopastoral systems also support soil health, with dung beetles (Scarabeus viettei) serving as bioindicators of improved conditions. Our research, in collaboration with an entomologist, highlights the potential of these systems to achieve sustainable livestock production while conserving the environment.
6. What are the most used cultivations species in your region?
The most widespread crops are: Bananas and plantains, citrus fruits, sugar cane, coconut palm, corn and beans.
7. Does the school you direct deal with applied research on crops? Or educational experiments? Does the school participate in plant disease testing programs?
We are currently experimenting with various approaches. One model is the field school, adapted from an FAO design originally created for Vietnam. This participatory method engages producers in hands-on training, guiding them through projects aimed at improving silvopastoral practices. This initiative is being implemented in collaboration with the Belize Livestock Producers Association (BLPA). Another approach involves testing an apprenticeship program, also in partnership with the BLPA, funded by the Canadian government through the SAGE (Skills to Access the Green Economy) project. These efforts are part of our outreach activities currently under evaluation. When needed, disease testing is conducted by the Belize Agricultural Health Authority (BAHA) laboratory.
8. Does the school also deal with studying climate change and its influence on crops? In this topic do you have suggestions for us? Any particular achievement?
Our research is in its early stages, and so far, we have relied on data from other countries with climates similar to ours, particularly those in Central America, such as Costa Rica. However, we are now beginning to generate our own data.
9. Do you participate in international exchange projects? For example with foreign students?
We collaborate with Canada on student exchange visits through the SAGE project. Additionally, during the summer, we host students from Delaware State University in the United States for training in tropical agriculture.
10. Do you use biological control methods to contain insects and fungus in your cultivation?
We employ a combination of control methods, supported by the efforts of OIRSA (Organismo Internacional Regional de Sanidad Agropecuaria), an organization in Belize focused on agricultural health. OIRSA has been actively producing and experimenting with biological agents for pest control.
11. What equipment do you use to check the condition of the cultivation?
Basic tools, tester, npk analysis, microscope, conductivity meter. The use of tools is part of the soil chemistry and physics course.
12. Do you receive help from outside professionals or do your staff carry out investigations themselves? For example about plant diseases.
We are part of a network of universities that share information and collaborate on various topics. The Office of Institutional Advancement (OIA) at the University of Belize coordinates these exchanges and partnerships. When it comes to identifying plant diseases, we collect samples and send them to the Belize Agricultural Health Authority (BAHA) for analysis.
13. Do your professors participate in continuing education programs?
Yes, teachers take courses in some training areas, e.g. pedagogy, research. To be a researcher it is necessary to acquire a license, refresher courses and continuing education are recommended, not mandatory.
14. One of the problems in large cities is CO2 levels. Have you taken any initiative to increase CO2 storage?
One measure is the improvement of silvopastoral systems, proposed by the BLPA/UB and supported by the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Agriculture. The improvements, already mentioned before, include the planting of 80 plants/ha in pastures and the addition of legumes, with an increase in animal capacity from the traditional 0.7 to 2.0 animals per acre (1 acre = approximately 4,050 m2). Among the objectives is also the increase in the number of total animals. Currently, in the country, there are approximately 200,000 cows; the objective is to bring this number to 400,000, with a reduction in gas emissions and soil improvement.
15. What are the plant care principles you use? In reference to the new techniques with biological products.
Our objectives are those related to economic and ecological sustainability, also through the use of integrated farming systems where the waste of one component can be used as an input for another component: for example the manure from cattle that is used to raise earthworms and subsequently used as fertilizer for crops.
16. How will agricultural school change in the future? What should students and professors prepare for?
Sustainability, students must be prepared (technically sound), prepared to manage agricultural businesses, with all modern problems (climate change, sustainable use of resources), know precision agriculture, with less product losses, train with new systems in the agricultural field.
17. Does the school provide consultancy to companies through its know-how?
Yes. Currently we are offering training in silvopastoral systems to the Beef cattle Livestock Sector. The University of Belize offers this service and legally it is allowed in our country.
18 Main problems about agricultural school? For example decrease in student registrations, increase in management costs, decrease in the quality of preparation of students upon entry.
The biggest problems are related to costs, agricultural schools are expensive, there is a very large agricultural company and it is expensive to maintain it. The number of students is constant over time. The preparation of incoming students has improved in recent years.
Mentoring mind, harvesting success.
Luciano Riva
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