Srum Agroecología

Education and training is our approach, so we organize training courses in which the farmers and agriculture students learn about entomology and how to observe, take samples and find and apply information about the insects in their farm. We are encouraging and involving the farmers and students in the building of a national reference collection on insects associated to crops, and sharing information among them and their families and communities. We are working with a national organic agriculture school, we trained their trainers and technicians in entomology, collection management and databasing, and we are using their facilities to do research involving their students and promoting the participation of students from other universities (biology, agriculture and natural resources management students). We work with the National Program on Organic Agriculture and the Costa Rican Movement of Organic Agriculture, as partners for the training courses. The main obstacles we are facing are the slow pace of public agencies and shortage of funding that prevent us to advance at a higher rate, reaching farmers in the whole country and even in the Central American region.