Compiling the Organic Farming Database

Interns from Mexico visit Utah to use Benson Institute facilities to compile an organic farming manual.

 

Marco Cabrera works on the database.

Marco Cabrera and Natanael Contreras from Tabasco, Mexico, were selected by Malaquías Flores, Ezra Taft Benson Agriculture and Food Institute Central America coordinator, to intern in Provo, Utah, in order to compile a database of the world’s knowledge of organic farming. In 1997, Malaquías Flores and Lila Fraire, professor at the Institute of Technology and Agriculture #28, began gathering data. Cabrera and Contreras worked to compile the information into a reader-friendly manual containing sections on soil conservation techniques, organic fertilizers, and rotational cropping. The purpose of this project is to provide aid to rural farmers in developing countries who desire to raise their crop production through less-expensive, alternate methods. Cabrera stated, “Most farmers in Latin America think that they don’t have the means available to raise production, to the contrary, they are surrounded by helpful resources to accomplish organic production.”

Natanael Contreras work at the Benson Institute in Provo, Utah.

The manual serves as a thesis project necessary for a degree in agronomy. Both Cabrera and Contreras plan to apply and teach to others the concepts involved in organic farming as they enter the work force.