They had to make grafts, operate the most varied type of machinery, from tractors to sprayers, and calculate the amount of product to apply to a given agricultural crop, in a marathon that started on Saturday, at 8:00 am, and ended at the same time of Sunday.
125 students from 13 institutions across the country and Spain did this and much more in the “24 Hours of Agriculture”, which took place this weekend at the University of Algarve.
In 2019, the Portuguese Horticulture Association decided to bring this competition to the Algarve, which brings together agronomy students from all over the country and Spain. "They can be students from universities, polytechnic institutes and professional agricultural schools," he told the Sul Informação Amílcar Duarte, professor of the Agronomy course at UAlg.
«The event consists of a set of tests, of a theoretical and practical nature, which take place over 24 hours, in a marathon regime. The goal is for students to show their practical skills and theoretical knowledge, to perform various tasks that are related to the exercise of the profession," he added.
And there are tastings for different tastes. «Right now, tests are underway related to the calibration of sprayers, namely the correct calculation of the dose of phytopharmaceuticals to be used and the way to spray», explained to our newspaper Rosa Guilherme, from the Portuguese Association of Horticulture (APH), on Saturday afternoon , near where students were huddled around a sprayer mounted on a tractor.
The competition also included tests on the calculation of fertilizers to be applied to a given crop, without forgetting “integrated production and organic production, soil moisture measurements through practices that can be used to control weeds, identify anomalies and inspect of sprayers, a current theme in agricultural sciences, practical evidence of citrus grafting and dimensioning of an irrigation system».
The young agronomy students also participated in sensory tests of various products, from olive oil to honey.
In the end, there was a writing component. «The participating students have to write an article, related to the theme of 24 hours of Agriculture 2019 – which is Circular Agriculture – and identify cases that are connected to this concept», according to Rosa Guilherme. The winning article will be, as a prize, published in the magazine of the Associação Portuguesa de Horticultura.
In the competition itself, the grand prize is a trip to an international institution of reference, in the area of research, offered by the company Syngenta, the main sponsor of the “24 Hours of Agriculture”.
There are also participation and other prizes that are awarded by the participants themselves. "They choose which was the most cooperative team, the friendliest, the ones that resist the night best, which are symbolic awards, but which also have their value," according to the APH representative.
Also because the creation of bonds between students from different institutions is also one of the objectives of this event. The first approach is a networking session, where participants have to ask other teams questions in order to break the ice and get them to cooperate.
“This is a very enriching experience that marks them for life. All the students who were here will remember this forever», believes Amílcar Duarte.
Carlos Guerrero, who is also a professor at the Faculty of Science and Technology at UAlg, highlighted the participation of the International Association of Agricultural Students, which is part of the organization and whose elements also help to connect students from different institutions.
“This is a unique event at an international level. Moreover, I heard students commenting on the fact that, in other countries, there are no competitions like this, for 24 hours straight”, said the professor at the Algarve university.
“There are some contacts to turn these 24 Hours of Agriculture into an Iberian event, but, at the moment, it is a national event”, concluded Rosa Guilherme.
Photos: Hugo Rodrigues|Sul Informação and Faculty of Science and Technology at UAlg
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