TEXAS-MEXICO INITIATIVE PROJECT


PROJECT NAME: Sustainable Production for Chile Ancho Peppers
OBJECTIVE:The overall objectives of the research are to screen beneficial, symbiotic mycorrhizal fungi isolates from Mexico for:

1) enhanced phosphorus uptake

2) enhanced drought resistance

3) to determine how phosphorus use efficiency and drought resistance mechanisms differ among selected mycorrhizal isolates in the Chile pepper-mycorrhizal fungi symbiosis.

The long term goal of this project is to develop more efficient, sustainable commercial systems for production of mycorrhizal fertility and irrigation regimes. We propose to show that selected mycorrhizal isolates improve the efficiency and enhance water relations and nutrient uptake of Chile pepper plants under sustainable production systems in Mexico and the US.

P.I.:Fred Davies, Professor

Department of Horticultural Sciences

Texas A&M University

Room 202 Horticulture/Forest Science Building

College Station, TX 77843-2133

Tel: (409) 845-5341

Fax: (409) 845-0627

e-mail: f-davies@tamu.edu

Mexican Collaborators:

Victor Olalde Portugal, CINVESTAV Plant Biology Institute, Irapuato, Mexico

AMOUNT:$5,000
DURATION:August 1, 1997 through July 30, 1998

TEXAS-MEXICO INITIATIVE PROJECT


PROJECT NAME: Beef Cattle Germplasm for Mexico
OBJECTIVE:To evaluate tropically adapted beef cattle germplasm in Mexico
P.I. :Bill Holloway, Resident Director of Research, Professor/Animal Science

Texas Agricultural Experiment Station

1619 Garner Field Road

Uvalde, TX 78801-6205

Tel: (210) 278-9151

Fax: (210) 278-1570

e-mail: jw-holloway@tamu.edu

US Collaborators:

David Forbes, Associate Professor, TAES/Uvalde

Charles Long, Resident Director of Research

Ron Randal, Professor, TAES/Overton

Mexican Collaborators:

Francisco Carrete, INIFAP, Durango

Mario Valencia, Director, Jalisco Ganaderia Association, Jalisco

Francisco Ysunza, Director, Consultoria Pecuniaria Integral and PATROCIPES, Sonora

Moises Montano, INIFAP, Vera Cruz

AMOUNT:$10,000
DURATION:August 1, 1997 through July 30, 1998

TEXAS-MEXICO INITIATIVE PROJECT
PROJECT NAME: Managing Agroecosystems: An Integrated Model for Agriculture and Conservation in the Mexico/US Border Corridor
OBJECTIVE:To synthesize information on agricultural development and ecological restoration from the study of the La Amistad Biosphere Reserve buffer zone in Costa Rica and Panama to aid in the management of Agroecosystems and natural resources in the Mexico/US.

1) draw upon information from the Costa Rican study site to develop a systems model capable of simulating agricultural production, economic and social conditions for rural families and the status of wildlife populations resulting from current land use practices

2) use information from the Panamanian study site to evaluate the model with regard to its ability to predict these same system attributes in the Panamanian portion of the buffer zone

3) draw upon information and experiences gained during the first year of the current Texas-Mexico Initiatives Project to adapt the model to simulate current land use practices in a selected region of the Mexico/US border corridor

4) use the model to simulate alternative schemes for the management of agroecosystems and natural resources in the Mexico/US border corridor

5) use the modeling approach as a means of initiating a demonstration project to expose international agroecosytem professionals to an integrated model for agricultural development and environmental conservation

P.I.:Bill Grant, Professor

Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences

Texas A&M University

Room 210, Nagle Hall

College Station, TX 77843

Tel: (409) 845-5702

Fax: (409) 845-3786

e-mail: wegrant@tamu.edu

US Collaborators:

James Christiansen, Professor, Department of Agricultural Education

Richard Conner, Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics

Wayne Hamilton, Professor, Department of Rangeland Ecology and Management

Tom Lacher, Professor, Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences

Tom Linton, Professor, Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences

Tarla Peterson, Professor, Department of Speech Communication

Paul Thompson, Professor, Center for Science and Technology, Policy and Ethics, Department of Philosophy and Humanities

Mexican Collaborators:

Elizabeth del C. Andade Limas, Unidad Multidisciplinaria Agronomia y Ciencias, Universidad Autonoma de Tamaulipas, Cuidad Victoria, Mexico

AMOUNT:$15,000
DURATION:August 1, 1997 through July 30, 1998

TEXAS-MEXICO INITIATIVE PROJECT


PROJECT NAME: US/Texas-Mexico Project on Pecan Biointensive Integrated Pest Management
OBJECTIVE:To design, demonstrate and disseminate biointensive pecan IPM through the use of the newly discovered pecan nut casebearer sex pheromone in Texas and Mexico using a community-based education approach
P.I.:Marvin Harris, Professor

Department of Entomology

Texas A&M University

College Station, TX 77843

Tel: (409) 845-9757

e-mail: m-harris@tamu.edu

US Collaborators:

Cindy Wise, Director, Texas Pecan Growers Association, College Station, TX

Mexican Collaborators:

Enrique Aranda, Director Graduate Program and Entomologists, Monterey Tech, Mexico

Luis Aguirre, Director Sanidad Vegetal and Entomologists, Antonio Narro, Mexico

Ernesto Gonzales, President, Pecan Growers of Northern Coahuila, Mexico

Ricardo Lozano, Producer and Businessman, Monterey, Mexico

AMOUNT:$5,000
DURATION:August 1, 1997 through July 30, 1998









TEXAS-MEXICO INITIATIVE PROJECT


PROJECT NAME: Interaction of Nutrition and Acacia berlandieri on Reproduction in Goats
OBJECTIVE:Characterization and quantification of phenolic amines content of shrub plants grazed by domestic ruminants and how they are influenced by plant-animal interactions will be a valuable tool in designing grazing strategies to increase animal productivity. Thus, specific objectives are: 1) To determine the dietary content of phenolic amines in small ruminants grazing rangelands dominated by phenolic amine containing vegetation and long term effect of defoliation on this variable

2) To determine if female goats consuming diets high in phenolic amines will a) have lower ovulation rate; b have fewer and small CL relative to control and animals, c) have higher circulating cortisol, and d) have these effects exacerbated by poor nutrition.

P.I.:R.D. Randal, Professor

Animal Science

Texas Agriculture Experiment Station

P.O. Box E

Overton, Texas 75684

US Collaborators:

T.D.A. Forbes, Associate Professor, Range and Science, TAES/Uvalde

B.A. Clement, Assistant Professor, Veterinary Anatomy and Public Health, Texas A&M University

Mexican Collaborators:

AMOUNT:$5,000
DURATION:August 1, 1997 through July 30, 1998

TEXAS-MEXICO INITIATIVE PROJECT


PROJECT NAME: Evaluation of Machinery and Management Practices for Conservation Tillage Systems
OBJECTIVE:The goal of this study is to evaluate alternative residue management systems that leave crop residues and machinery that are compatible with the systems. It will synthesize new management systems and determine the machinery required for sustainable economic systems for very small farms to very larger farms dryland farms as well as irrigated farms.
P.I.:Wayne Le Pori, Professor

Agricultural Engineering Department

Texas A&M University

College Station, TX 77843-3667

Tel: (409) 845-3667

e-mail: lepori@tamu.edu

Mexican Collaborators:

Dr. Ramon Claveran Alonso, Director of the National Research Center for Sustainable Production, Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico

Dr. Manuel Cabrera, Director of the Institute of Agricultural Sciences, University of Guanajuato, Irapuato, Mexico

AMOUNT:$10,000
DURATION:August 1, 1997 through July 30, 1998