We landed safely in Mexico; it actually took three flights to get here from California. We flew west to Phoenix, then south to Mexico city before going north to a small town called Obregon in the state of Sonora. First impressions are that it is hot, and not very green.

Roughly a quarter of Mexico’s 100 million people live in rural areas and depend primarily on agriculture. Incomes in farming tend to be low and agriculture contributes just 5% of the national GDP. We were in Mexico for just two days.

Cutting-edge technology

Our first visit was to visit CIMMYT, a research station mostly concerned with the breeding of wheat. The first thing we saw when we arrived to the station was a statue of the late Norman Borlaug, an Australian researcher whose pioneering work led to the green revolution. By breeding and crossbreeding various varieties of wheat, the yield potential increased dramatically from the 1950s onwards. Later, we got a tour of the facility and met a few of the researchers. This is a world-class facility and the land here is very fertile. There is also an abundant supply of water from reservoirs built in the hills. All the water is controlled by the farmers and it is one of the most efficient anywhere in the world.

Wheat is planted in raised beds and it is furrow irrigated five or six times per annum. The growing season is incredibly short. Sowing takes place from November to January and harvest is in April and May. It is possible to grow a summer crop of corn or safflower or sorghum provided you have the water. Most of the wheat planted here is durum for pasta production. Some is for bread; it is a bearded wheat very unlike the feed wheat that I am used to seeing at home. We also saw the progress that is being made in increasing zinc levels in wheat to address diet imbalance across the globe. Cutting-edge drone technology is also being used to assess the health and nutrient status of the plant. We got a great demo of a computer-controlled flight over a crop of wheat, fascinating stuff.

Mexican grain industry

On day two, we were hosted by AOASS, which is a large farmers’ association. They oversee marketing, finance and production of grains in this part of Mexico. They have 13 grain intakes around the state and we got a tour of one of the sites which is located in Obregon, the town that we stayed in. It is a fantastic piece if infrastructure with storage for 85,000t of grain. It also had a rail line connection for shipping out to the port, but traffic at harvest time is becoming a major problem so they are starting work on a new 140,000t plant outside the town. Interestingly, none of the grain lorries tip their loads. We were shown a cradle which the front wheels of rigid trucks drive up on before being hoisted up to get the grain to flow out the back. A similar but much larger ramp is used to lift the bigger articulated trucks.

Authentic food

The highlight of our short visit to Mexico for me was the food – it was simply divine. I have tried authentic tacos and burritos but, best of all, was the lunch that we had on the final day. A rib eye of beef was prepared in front of us and served with mouthwatering vegetables and spices, washed down with some tequila and followed by some cactus ice-cream to cool our palates.

Mexico struck me as a country where prosperity, poverty, natural splendour and urban sprawl rub shoulders; our visit here has been all too short.

Brazil is our next stop. You can keep up to date with my travels by following me on Twitter @BoRuaFarmer and by following the hashtag #nuffield16.

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Read about Tom’s journey so far here.