For the third year, the School of Agriculture Food and Wine hosted a delegation of students from the Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University in the Shaanxi Province, China.
The study program, initiated by Mike Keller as a way to strengthen out ties with our Chinese partners, was coordinated by Ben Pike, Technical Service Manager.
The group of 21 students in their sophomore year are studying a mixture of Viticulture and Oenology, Agriculture, Horticulture and Agribusiness. They were accompanied by two academics.
After a week of intensive English studies in the University’s English Language Centre, Grenfell St, the group then spent three weeks with our School.
The first week was focused on Viticulture, Oenology and Sensory studies culminating in a tour to the Adelaide Hills for vineyard and cellar door visits at Nepenthe and Howard Vineyard.
Week two focused on other Agriculture and Biotechnology disciplines where the group were given some insight into our grain breeding programs, almond breeding and Plant Cell Walls, Cell Biology programs and Crop Protection programs. They also visited Peats soils and The Food Forest, Gawler at the end of the week.
The highlight of the trip for the students was a visit to Kangaroo Island in the last week. Along with some sightseeing, the students learned about bee keeping, dairy production, eucalypt oil production, viticulture, aquaculture and apple growing for cider and the challenges these enterprise face in the unique island environment. We stayed at the Flinders-Baudin Research Station, Flinders Chase National Park for two nights. The students were also given the challenge of devising their own menus, then purchasing and preparing their own meals for two nights and two days.
Ben Pike, Technical Service Manager
School of Agriculture, Food and Wine
