| | Justin Nix of Iota, La., ahead on bridge, and other members of the Agricultural Leadership Development Program tour the Humble Administrator’s Garden in Suzhou, China, which was one of four cities in China visited by the group. (Photo by Bobby Soileau) |
| | | Henry Harrison, LSU AgCenter county agent in Washington Parish, Jess Barr of Monroe, Mark Marionneaux of Zachary, and Willie Danos of Iowa look at some ofthe fresh fruits and vegetables at an open-air wholesale market in Beijing. They are members of the Agricultural Leadership Development Program directed by Mike Futrell. (Photo by Bobby Soileau) |
| | | Hank Schumacher, Husser, second from left, and Marty Wooldridge, Oil City, next to him, watch action at a farmers’ market in Wuxi, China. Both Wooldridge and Schumacher are cattle producers. (Photo by Bobby Soileau) |
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Seventeen graduates of the LSU AgCenter’s Agricultural Leadership Development Program participated in an 11-day agricultural study tour of China. The international trip, which began Jan. 13, serves as the final seminar for the two-year program.
The group first visited Beijing where they were briefed on agricultural and trade issues by Embassy, U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of Commerce officials. The Ag Leaders also met with representatives of the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture. Other stops in Beijing included a textile company, a forestry nursery, an agricultural university and a wholesale produce and vegetable market. Everyone also took in some of the great tourist sites like The Great Wall, The Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square.
A trip farther south to Wuxi gave the group an opportunity to visit the Fresh Water Fisheries Institute and a farmers’ market. A one hour bus ride from Wuxi brought the Ag Leaders to Suzhou, a garden city. The group toured the famed Humble Administrator’s Garden and looked at a greenhouse vegetable and flower operation. One of the greenhouses was filled with orchids as they prepared for the Chinese New Year.
The final stop of the trip was in Shanghai. Besides visiting an industrial park for agricultural production, the group toured this impressive city of 17 million people.
According to Mike Futrell, director of the Ag Leadership Program, everyone was impressed with the modern Shanghai. “Everything I have read,” said Futrell, “suggests that China is on the brink of becoming an economic powerhouse. From what I see here, that may well be an understatement.”
Travel for the program is underwritten by private funds in the LSU Foundation, specifically the Chalkley Family Endowed Chair, the H. Rouse Caffey Endowment and the Ag Leaders of Louisiana Endowment.
Bobby Soileau
(This article was published in the winter 2006 issue of Louisiana Agriculture.) |