Poland–Texas – cooperation for new generations of farmers
08.06.2022
Mr. Henryk Kowalczyk, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, met with Mr. Jim Mazurkiewicz, Professor of Texas Agricultural and Mechanical University. As a rule, the occasion for these talks between the leadership of the MARD and Professor Jim Mazurkiewicz is the implementation of the Poland-Texas Young Farmer Exchange Program.
For more than 20 years Professor Jim Mazurkiewicz has closely cooperated with Polish universities, scientific institutes and entrepreneurs. Since 2013 – together with the Polish Association of Cereals Producers and the Agricultural Advisory Center in Brwinów – he has managed an exchange program for young farmers from Poland and Texas
Young Farmer Exchange Program
The aim of this project is to create an opportunity for young farmers to exchange experiences and knowledge. Among others, in their talks Deputy Prime Minister Henryk Kowalczyk and Professor Mazurkiewicz discussed this year’s edition of this Program which began on 19 June 2022.
“We expect that this Program would be continued in the successive years. We want to ensure that experiences of this type broaden the horizons and also result in the desire to expand family-owned farms,” Deputy Prime Minister Henryk Kowalczyk said.
Project for rural children
The Deputy Prime Minister also expressed his appreciation when referring to information about the project implemented in Texas to develop the social competences of rural children, their creativity and self-reliance. He assessed that the concept was worth following in Poland.
“Actions of this type result in making children more attached to farms and increasing their feeling of agency and responsibility,” he added.
Projects for universities
The meeting was also an opportunity for discussing the projects carried out by Texas A&M University in cooperation with Polish universities, primarily the Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW) – the experiences related to agricultural advisory services and the implementation of joint research projects with the participation of the scientific institutes supervised by the MARD.
