Student opportunity : short-term exposure to international agriculture

Opportunities abound to apply crop science to solving many of the world’s food problems. International agricultural research centers (IARCs) provide a window through which students can see the need for improved agricultural productivity and briefly experience the rewards of working on difficult but important issues. In today’s world of highly technical graduate education, students find it difficult to obtain exposure to international agriculture due to the extreme constraints on their time. Programs for students that provide a short-term exposure to IARC strategies can have long-term benefits for the student as well as the international center. A short-term student exchange program between a US university and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and a special course on rice (research to production) offered at IRRI provide students with unique insights for averting food riots in the future. Details of these educational efforts are described in this paper.