2005 Media Releases
May 24, 2005
La Trobe University and Chinese agriculture exchange students visit country Victoria
La Trobe University agricultural education has come a long way – from China to Tatura … as well as Warragul and Camperdown.
On Saturday, 28 May a group of fourth year Bachelor of Agricultural Science students from La Trobe University’s main Melbourne campus at Bundoora and 10 of their colleagues from Yunnan Agricultural University in Kunming, Southwest China, will be in Tatura to study dairy industry practices as part of their courses.
The party will be accompanied by 2 researchers from Yunnan and 2 from La Trobe. It will visit Tatura Milk Industries at 10.30 am and then inspect the farm of Mr Rick Cross at 1.30 pm. The students’ stay in Tatura follows similar visits to Camperdown in the week before and Warragul in Gippsland, and is part of their evaluation of dairy farming systems.
The organiser of the study tour is Associate Professor in Agricultural Science at La Trobe University, Dr Peter Sale – a ‘golden logie’ holder for his innovative teaching programs, having won one of the prestigious Australian University Teaching Awards in the late 1990s.
He says the students from Yunnan are on a reciprocal visit to La Trobe University, following a two-week study tour by 15 La Trobe students to China in March. There the La Trobe students studied agricultural systems in Yunnan, observing various cropping systems and consulting with local farmers, scientists, and other agriculture professionals with the view to devising sustainable agricultural practices.
‘The exposure of students to agricultural practices and problems encountered as a result of these visits provides exceptionally valuable experience. It will equip them well for careers as professionals when they will be expected to deal with complex issues facing people all over the world,’ Dr Sale says.
This year’s exchange study program has been supported by Dairy Australia, Tatura Milk Industries and Austrex. Previous La Trobe University reciprocal study tours have involved groups from Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
See http://www.latrobe.edu.au/bulletin/news8.html for additional background.
For further information:
Please contact Dr Peter Sale, tel: 03 9479 1197