Ag guru plants wisdom around the world
Dean Wheeler, a sort of agricultural guru to many farmers, has volunteered all over the globe — from Brazil to Tanzania, Rwanda, Moldova and many places in between.
In June, the retired Davis resident advised farmers throughout rural Nicaraguan towns, such as Camoapa, Matagalpa and Jenotega, on post-harvest procedures including washing, bagging and shipping.
With 50 years of experience in agriculture under his belt, Wheeler gives counsel that warrants a result.
As a young man, Wheeler was passionate about farming and studied agriculture at UC Davis. He began his career growing pineapple for Del Monte Food Corp. on the Hawaiian islands of Oahu and Molokai.
From there, Wheeler was assigned to work in Kenya, the Philippines, Costa Rica and, finally, Del Monte’s headquarters in Miami.
Eventually, Wheeler left Del Monte to start his own consulting business. He worked as its president for 17 years until he decided to retire two years ago.
In 2000, Wheeler traveled to Brazil to begin his first volunteer trip for the nonprofit organization USAID, via its Farmer-to-Farmer Program.
The two-week program allows farmers of different nationalities to exchange agricultural practices with each other on a personal level. Throughout his 14 trips, Wheeler mostly traveled alone, save for a field officer who helped him find the farms. Thus, his exchanges with other farmers were fairly direct.
“Overall,” he explained, “USAID’s Farmer-to-Farmer Program is very effective at what it tries to accomplish.”
Last year, Wheeler traveled to the Dominican Republic to advise farmers on the growing, packing, and shipping of pineapples and avocados. He was especially impressed with the quality of their pineapple crops, which are mostly exported to the U.S.
In Nicaragua, Wheeler discovered some serious flaws in the farms he advised — however, many of the problems were due to a lack of resources.
Many of the farms were small, he said, usually ranging from two to 10 acres. All of the farmers lived on-site and banded together in cooperatives to store produce in a warehouse.
Although the terrain is often steep, Nicaragua’s soil and climate are especially conducive to growing potatoes and carrots.
However, as a militarized third-world country, Nicaragua devotes more of its funding to training soldiers rather than growing crops.
Thus, the resources needed to meet U.S. agricultural standards are nearly impossible to acquire in Nicaragua.
“Potatoes and carrots must always be washed,” Wheeler professed. “Without enough clean water, farmers had been washing their produce in a nearby stream until I told them to do otherwise.”
Wheeler advised them simply to build a few wells to improve the water quality, which would, in turn, improve the quality of their produce as well.
Wheeler said that the Nicaraguan farmers seemed very appreciative of his presence there.
“I think that a lot of the advice will be taken,” he added with a slight grin.
Although Wheeler has toured the country before, the Farmer-to-Farmer Program has invited him to return to Moldova again next September.
Wheeler said that his last experience advising in the Eastern European country was very different from other countries that he advised in. “Not only are the varieties of produce different there, but so is the market,” he explained.
Wheeler said that his experience with the Farmer-to-Farmer Program could be particularly relevant to UCD faculty and farmers who might show interest in volunteering themselves.
As for his own future, he said, “I don’t see myself stopping anytime soon. I’d like to do it twice a year, if possible.”
USAID’s program seems to produce admirable results and, Wheeler added, “it’s just a good expression of positive public relations in other countries.”
“It always seems like the program leaves a positive effect on the farmers and everyone else involved.”
Short URL: http://www.davisenterprise.com/?p=60777
Posted by Tommy Stone
on Jul 11 2011.
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