The jury for the National Plant Health Award 2023, made up of phytosanitary experts and specialists from all over the country, chose as winners for Scientific Work the Department of Agricultural Parasitology of the Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro (UAAAN, by its Spanish acronym) and for Phytosanitary Merit Dr. J. Concepción Rodríguez Maciel, informed the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The winners of this award were chosen in accordance with the terms of the call, published by the National Service for Agrifood Health, Safety and Quality (Senasica, by its Spanish acronym) in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF, by its Spanish acronym) on May 8, 2023.
Each year, Agriculture awards this prize to professionals who have contributed with their work in the prevention, control and eradication of plant pests in Mexico, with a minimum experience of 25 years in phytosanitary work.
In its 2023 edition, the National Plant Health Award consists of a medal, diploma and economic gratification, which will be presented on July 1 of this year, as part of the celebration of the National Plant Health Day 2023.
The Department of Agricultural Parasitology of the UAAAN has stood out for 100 years as one of the main training institutions for agronomists and parasitologists in the country and its headquarters in Saltillo, Coahuila, receives students from all over the country, also has a Regional Unit in Torreon and a Regional Academic Center in Cintalapa, Chiapas.
J. Concepción Rodríguez Maciel is an agronomist engineer specialized in Agricultural Parasitology, graduated from the Universidad Autónoma Chapingo (UACh, by its Spanish acronym), has a master's degree in Entomology from the Postgraduate Association (Colpos, by its Spanish acronym) and completed his doctorate in Insecticide Resistance Management at the University of California, Riverside.
Since 1994 he has been an adjunct research professor at the Institute of Phytosanitation of Colpos and a visiting professor at the Universidad de Concepción, Campus Chillán, Chile.
Participating in the vote for Senasica were the directors of the National Fruit Fly Program, Maritza Juárez Durán; of Plant Protection, José Manuel Gutiérrez Ruelas; of the National Phytosanitary Reference Center, Guillermo Santiago Martínez; and of Plant Health Regulation, Israel Cueto Espinosa.
Also, the general director of Colpos, Juan Antonio Villanueva Jiménez; the director of the Department of Agricultural Parasitology of the UACh, Óscar Morales Galván; the research professor of the Department of Agricultural Parasitology of the UAAAN, Oswaldo García Martínez, cast their votes; Selene Hernández Muñoz, professor of the "Presidente Juárez" Faculty of Agrobiology of the Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás Hidalgo, and Leopoldo Santos Argumedo, coordinator of Academic Affairs of the Center for Research and Advanced Studies of the National Polytechnic Institute.
The jury also included the presidents of several associations: Ingenieros Agrónomos Parasitólogos, Gustavo González Villalobos; of the Sociedad Mexicana de Control Biológico, Beatriz Rodríguez Vélez; of the Academia Entomológica de México, José Antonio Sánchez García; of the Sociedad Mexicana de la Ciencia de la Maleza, Óscar Liedo Granillo, and of the Mexican Corporation of Applied Phytopathology, Gabriel Rincón Enríquez.
At the end of the voting, on behalf of the jury, the head of the General Directorate of Plant Health of Senasica, Francisco Ramirez y Ramirez, extended, via telephone, congratulations to Dr. J. Concepcion Rodriguez Maciel and the director of the Department of Agricultural Parasitology of the UAAAN, Luis Alberto Aguirre Uribe.