Overview of the problem

The human population is increasing at a growth rate of 81 million people per year and will reach 11 billion this century, according to World in Data. It will cause water crises, economic issues, climate change, political confrontations, damage to natural resources, and an increase in food demand. A study shows that global food demand is expected to increase by 30% to 62% between 2010 and 2050 ‌(van Dijk et al., 2021). This situation has worsened, due to the war between Russia and Ukraine, blocking the exportation of fertilizers and causing damage to the world food supply chain(OECD,2022). Therefore, it is necessary to propose solutions in the agrotechnology sector to improve food production.

In order to satisfy the global food demand, different strategies are taking place such as vertical farming, hydroponics, irrigation, yield fertilizers, and biotechnology innovations but mainly expansion in the croplands (Laurance et al. 2014). It happens more in developing nations that lack sufficient agriculture technology. This strategy is not sustainable and affects aquatic ecosystems and natural areas generating fewer tools for absorbing the CO2 and causing an increase in nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization. These changes will gradually affect the diversity and composition of the prevailing ecosystems all over the world, but mostly biodiversity in Central and South America (Zabel et al., 2019). Thus, we need to look for effective alternatives promoting the croplands yield and not just an expansion that affects our environment.

Local area

One of the main issues that decrease crop yields in Mexico is the losses caused by pests. According to the FAO, pests cause losses in agricultural production by up to 40% (Agroasemex, 2019). One of the most important strategies that Mexico has used to control pests is pesticides, as we can notice in the consumption of pesticides which 2000-2014 rose by 59.2% (‌OECD, 2021). Nevertheless, the use of conventional pesticides has acute side effects as alterations in complete blood count, hepatic and renal functions, and nerve conduction velocities and amplitudes (Hu et al., 2015) and symptoms such as headaches, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, fatigue, loss of appetite, eye or skin irritation at the site of contact with the product (Quebec government, 2022). In addition to its toxicity, the waste of pesticides can persist in the environment and crops. Pesticides further can produce long-term harmful effects on the health of humans and animals and the stability of ecosystems (Kalyabina, 2021). In Mexico, this is a topic of concern because of the high levels of toxic contaminants (as heavy metals and pesticides) that have been found in soil, water, and plants and animals in some regions, and adverse effects on human health, especially in children, that have been identified ‌(OECD, 2021). Therefore, we aim to develop a sustainable alternative that can efficiently control pests, without adverse effects on human health and the environment.

Human Approach

One of the learnings in our journey is that a project needs to go beyond the literature and considers social needs. Therefore, we approached our possible solution considering the SDGs. Our aim is that our project contributes to sustainable agriculture by increasing food production and protecting the environment. Also, it could contribute to good health and well-being, offering an alternative to pesticides with a biopesticide non-toxic for humans. Moreover, to create a beneficial product, we did engagements in our local area with the producers in different communities and consulted diverse stakeholders. This helped us learn about problems in agriculture mainly derived from pests and pesticides. The interaction with communities encouraged to offer a better alternative to pesticides with the creation of Spidicide-CX.

Table 1. Stakeholder's matrix

To get a better social approach, we made a stakeholder matrix to consider all the people that could be involved in the problem of agricultural food production. We wrote values that could measure the involvement of the stakeholder in the problem such as economic benefit, sustainability, health, biosafety, and human relationship. These were in a range of: 1 =Applies, 2 = Unknown and 3 = Does not apply. As a result, we decided which stakeholders could approach for our first interactions such as farmers, agronomists, and the government. Also, we watched out for the possibility of getting economic and social support (one could be the link between each other) from them to implement our project. Finally, we were ready to have our first interactions with stakeholders.

Stakeholders Approach

Ing. Ernesto Pavel

Why?

The first stakeholder we wanted to contact was someone who knew a lot about agriculture from both perspectives, the social and the scientific. For that reason, a stakeholder that is an agronomist and is also involved in the government was a good idea. We had several interactions with him where we received significant feedback for the project.

Who?

The stakeholder Pável Ernesto Damián Díaz, is an agronomist with a bachelor in Agricultural Engineering, member of the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences of UAGRO and General Director of Agriculture, Plant Health and Climatological Risks of the State of Guerrero.

What did we learn?

The principal feedback he have us was:

• Investigate regulations of FAO, SAGARPA and COFEPRIS for the development of a possible biopesticide into a start-up.
• He gave us ideas for contacting other possible stakeholders related to the government sector specially about SENASICA and Organismos Auxiliares de Sanidad Vegetal. He also suggested that we contact CropLife (PROCCYT) , a private agriculture enterprise.
• A very important point was about the formulation method and advice on how we are going to deliver our biopesticide and aspergate it so that it is not wasted.
• We asked him about the most affected regions in the country and he told us that the State of Mexico was of the most affected places, and also recommend us to watch a documentary about the subject called “Para los que pueden ver”

How did we implement it?

The feedback provided by the agronomist gave us important insight on what future possible stakeholders we could contact for gaining more information about how to solve the problem in a correct way. Also the documentary he recommended, gave us the idea of creating a comparative table to know which state or states were going to be the best possible place to visit and make engagements with communities. It also helped us connect more with the problematic and understand pesticides in a different way not just in a scientific way about the health side effects and toxic components

iGEM Bolivia

Why did we contact this stakeholder?

We decided to contact the iGEM Bolivia team for an assessment in the Human Practices section. Last year, the team won best Integrated Human Practices, that is why wanted to have some guidance from their mentors and from the experience of the iGEM Bolivia team members, with whom we have had collaborated in past occasions

Who are they?

The iGEM Bolivia team was assessed by important personalities of the iGEM community such as: Dra. Cecilia González, Dra. Tania Pozo and Dra. Maria Mercedes Pozo. All the team was really eager to help another LATAM team and they gave us very important feedback.

What did we learn?

1. We learnt about the engagement with communities. They started by reminding us that Human Practices is not Education and that if we are going to engage with communities it will be a bilateral dialogue of knowledge not unidirectional from us, so that we can understand what society needs. Another important point was to implement first general questions and then particular ones.
2. Analyze commercialization channels contact agricultural companies such as CROP LIFE, a very important agrotech company in Latin America.
3. Develop a stakeholders matrix for future production centers and have a well established supply chain for making this project a future start-up.
4. Communication logo of the project and in general advice about design and image.
5. Careful with the ideological package of the term our biopesticide is better because it is natural. That is a vitalist idea that natural is better than chemicals. The pesticides should not be shown as the worst thing that has ever happened to humanity. If we did not have them, food would not be available for many people in the world. The real problem is the relationship and incorrect management of spreading or disposal of these products.
6. Research more about other biopesticides.

How did we implement it?

We took into account all the points they recommended and implemented them through our project and it helped us improve it, specially in the entrepreneurship area. We learned the importance of doing good field work to understand and be empathic with society in the face of the problem we are trying to solve by seeing it from another approach in such a way that it is society who sees an opportunity to improve through the use of science, especially with synthetic biology.

Dr. Nemesio Chávez

Why?

We wanted to learn from a stakeholder that was scientific but with a social perspective. For that reason, we contacted science communication expert, Dr. Nemesio Chávez, to gain knowledge on what scientific dissemination strategies we should implement for having our first personal engagement with a community from the State of Mexico.

Who?

Dr. Nemesio has a degree in Biology from the Autonomous Metropolitan University. He has been director of the Museum of Natural History of Mexico City (2002-2007); Deputy director of research and collections at the Museum of Natural History of Mexico City (2001-2002). He has taught courses on Molecular Biology, General Chemistry, Origins and Evolution of Life and Organic Evolution Processes at the UAM, Iztapalapa (1981-1998). Professor of photography and audiovisual production at the National Pedagogical University (1992). Professor of the science communication seminar at the Institute of Neurology (1992). Currently he is a professor in the Department of Communication Sciences of the Division of Communication Sciences and Design at UAM Cuajimalpa.

What did we learn?

We learned that the approach with the communities needed to be empathetic and significant for the communities. We need to arrive with humility and not sell a product or pretend to teach communities that know more about the agricultural sector than us. In addition, he also gave us advice on how to transmit our project in a visual way in our promotional video and in our funding campaign.

How did we implement it ?

After the assessment, we decided to not make educational activities or bring infographics to the communities we were going to visit. Instead, we as a team were the ones that were going to learn about agriculture in a bidirectional dialogue of knowledge to engage with the community.

Dra. Argelia García Elizalde

Why?

We wanted to consult with a stakeholder expert in the interview part of engagement in agricultural communities, and a social scientist with experience in the field was the best option. We needed to know how to formulate the questions for the questionnaires we were going to make online and on-site for delimiting the problem. In addition, we wanted an assessment of the privacy regulations regarding informed consent in the interviews of the field investigation.

Who?

Dra. Argelia García Elizalde has a bachelor in Food Engineering at UAM Iztapalapa; Master in Public Health Sciences (UATx); She made a short stay on Local Agri-Food Systems of Mexico (Higher Council for Scientific Research in Madrid, Spain) and is a Doctor in Regional Development at Colegio de Tlaxcala A.C.

What did we learn?

We learned about the privacy regulations for writing and giving it to the people we were going to interview, you can see them in the [annexes section]. She also helped us finish writing the semi-structured interviews. Lastly, she gave us another very important piece of advice before going to the communities, which was building a business model before going.

How did we implement it ?

We made the business model before attending to the communities, this helped us by gaining insight into what possible solution we could offer to those communities and not making any promises of making a miracle product. Also, the structure of the interviews helped us in obtaining a lot of information. In addition, we gave the interviewees privacy consents following the safety policies for Human Subjects research.

Surveys bioentrepreneurship- pests and alternative options

As part of integrating the project into the social area, we carried out surveys aimed at learning about the reality of avocado, nopal and agave farmers.

The purpose of the survey was to learn about the pest control situation of the borer weevil, avocado borers and agave weevil, as well as to know the impact at the level of the market study carried out for the bio entrepreneurship section.

We firmly believe that it is necessary to have true information that validates the importance of creating an alternative product as a pest treatment through synthetic biology, as well as knowing the acceptance that the product would have when it hits the market.

We managed to obtain 115 responses from avocado, nopal and avocado agronomists, farmers and vendors, however, we also found that mango, chili and cane farmers are looking for an alternative product to replace conventional agrochemicals, which indicated that our biopesticide has an acceptance percentage of 89.6% in the states of Jalisco, Michoacán, Puebla, Oaxaca, Morelos, State of Mexico, Zacatecas, Aguascalientes, Guanajuato and Mexico City .

About 33.6% of the surveyed population has more than 5 hectares of cultivated land, 23.9% has 5 hectares, 12.4% has between 3 and 5 hectares, and 30.1% has less than 3 hectares, according to these percentages we can realize the level of contamination that is generated by using agrochemicals given that 1 to 1.5 liters of pesticide are necessary per hectare, this represents a considerable expense since in Mexico the most used agrochemicals have a cost close to $5000, a cost that attacks directly to the economy not only of agronomists and farmers but to the entire distribution chain of the harvested product.

Graph 4 presents the characteristics that farmers look for when they choose a new product, according to the answers, the three main ideal characteristics are: effective agrochemical, affordable price and environmentally friendly .

It is thanks to this activity that we managed to obtain a more realistic panorama in such a way that we adapted the project to the needs that the current society has in favor of life.

Interviews with experts

We conducted a series of interviews with experts in agriculture and uploaded them to our social media. Aiming to discuss the future of agrotechnology and to learn more about the health and environmental impacts of pesticides.

Dr. Alberto Gabino Martínez Gutiérrez

Pesticides are classified as highly toxic (red), toxic (yellow), and slightly toxic (green) for human health. He also told us that when a pesticide is used, protective equipment should be used: gloves, overalls, a mask, and boots, but unfortunately people do not usually use them because they are uncomfortable since they increase body heat and working in the field involves getting a lot of sun. He even told us about a personal experience where sadly one of his friends died from lung problems from using a very toxic pesticide. Regarding environmental damage, pesticides pollute rivers and streams because they are not taken to recycling centers.

Dr. Luis Daniel Ortega Martínez

Also, we reaffirmed the lack of knowledge from many farmers about the consequences of an incorrect application of pesticides. In addition, we learned that to have a better engagement with farmers, they require and want the support to use pesticides or biopesticides. Doctor Luis told us that biopesticides could be a good alternative to replace conventional pesticides. In conclusion, pesticides are causing damage to the health of people and the environment, and is required to develop better alternatives that can control the pests without adverse effects on human health and the environment.

Dr. Marcelo Acosta Ramos

The objective of this interview was to know how fungicides act in the management of diseases in horticultural crops. Dr. Marcelo was explaining how is the process of attack of fungicides in certain diseases that occur in crops. He explained the conditions under which these diseases can develop and in which crops they occur. From the beginning, he gave us his point of view as an expert and as a producer. In this interview, we confirmed once again that education on the management of pesticides, biopesticides, and fungicides has to be even broader and not only for farmers but for the entire population. We also realized that the use of these tools (pesticides, biopesticides, and fungicides) is a key to feeding the entire planet in future years.

All the talks on this series of interviews were very pleasant, in each one of them we learned something new about pesticides and agriculture. Each one of these videos was uploaded to our Youtube Channel.

Maps of production throughout time

Since the beginning of the competition, we did an analysis of the most important crops in Mexico affected by Coleopteran insects which are: Nopals, Agave, Cotton, Coconut, Chili, and Avocado. We wanted to analyze the places where these crops were distributed around the country, also measure the tons of production over the years and represent it interactively. Thanks to the database, Sistema de información alimentaria de consulta (SIACON), from the government of Mexico. We were able to consult this database and put this information into Python for generating visual maps.

Nopals

In this map, we observe how nopal production has increased over the years. Firstly in 1994, Mexico City was the main producer. Nowadays, Morelos produces more quantity and also other states have joined in the production.

Agave

This map represents the Agave production between the years 1994-2021. We can appreciate how Jalisco is the main producer, and how production has increased in the states near Jalisco through time.

Cotton

In this map, we can appreciate how cotton production has switched between the northern states over the years 1994-2021. Nowadays, Chihuahua is the main producer of cotton.

Coconut

This map represents Coconut production in Mexico between the years 1994-2021. We can observe that it is low in all the country and that over the years it increased in coastal states mainly in Sinaloa.

Chili

This map is a representation of the chili production between the years 2003-2021. In it we can appreciate that Chihuahua is the principal state producer, followed by Sinaloa.

Avocado

This map shows how Michocán is the main producer of avocado, and even though almost all states produce it, they do it in low quantities. This analysis is between the years 1994-2001.

Coleopteran maps

As part of the investigation analysis of the most important crops in Mexico. We wanted to represent the affections of Coleopteran insects in different states. For that reason, we did a representative map, showing the principal Coleopteran pests related to our previous bibliographical investigation that included the geographical locations of:

• Small Avocado Stone Borer (Anthonomus grandis)
• Mexican fruit fly (Anastrepha ludens (Loew)
• Agave weevil
• Corn weevil (Geraeus senilis, Linogeraeus neglectus, Sitophilus zeamais)
• Chili weevil
• Cotton boll weevil

Analysis of the states of the Mexican Republic crops

We did a selection matrix to know which States of the Mexican Republic count with the crops that we are working on, we consider factors according to the information of the number of hectares, production value, main municipalities, the existence of pests, insect order of pests, level of affectation in crops, the health problems produced by the use of pesticides and types of pesticides used.

With these categories, we found that there are a lot of municipalities where the first economic activity is the production of products of national interest, as well as the importance of including local problems in our daily list of activities to improve.
The information found is presented in the next table:

Table 2.Analysis of the states of the Mexican Republic crops

Integrated Human Practices

Our project aims to develop a solution to help farmers tackle the food demand and the pest problem, with synthetic biology tools. Thanks to the interactions with the stakeholders surrounding our project, we noticed how this problem affects our local region. Through bibliographical research and talking with experts, we delimited the principal crops affected due to pests. Also, we considered the political problems and regulations that influence the deficiency of the correct application of new technologies in agriculture at LATAM. For the engagement with communities, it was essential to consider the security aspects due to the narcotraffic dominance in the agricultural sector of many states. Some areas we wanted to visit were risky, so we had to reduce our options to non-violent regions that appeared in the table 2, which included regions at the center of Mexico.

We decided to first focus on the Milpa Alta fields because of the nopal production, and the security of the place to visit. There we discovered that pests were a significant problem. The cactus weevil was one of the main afflictions in the region, not just as a pest but also acted as a disease vector of the fungus Pseudocercospora opuntiae, which caused a lot of crop losses. Then through investigations and interviews with the communities with small and medium producers and experts in the field, we saw that our project has the potential to be applied to different crops affected by the Coleoptera order. Then we decided to reshape our project focusing on this order of insects and expanding the visits to communities in other states of Mexico. The focus of the engagement was to know the necessities of the farmers so that we could understand how to design an efficient solution. Also, we considered that our biopesticide has to be accepted by society and effective, considering all security measures.

Engagement with different communities

Milpa alta

Our first engagement was in Milpa Alta, a place on the outskirts of Mexico City. This place has a great impact on nopal production, most of the farmers have 5 to 25 hectares producing nopal with around 256 000 tons per year. Each year new family members start to work in a specific part of the commercialization of nopals. In this way, we decided to interview a stakeholder that was a farmer with experience. Therefore, we interviewed Mr. Genaro González, owner of "El Milpaltense", who gave us his perspective as a principal worker in the growing up of nopal. He told us that this activity was the heritage of their parents, and now his son is working on the administration part. They saw that the demand in Mexico was covered by other producers, which is why they decided to expand their market, and this action includes the use of new techniques, products and having contacts that can help you to achieve your goals.

With the last one, we started to create a new version of our outlook, in such a way that we wanted to support and know how the pests affect other crops and their repercussions, in this scenario we decided to make extensive. Mr. González added that it is important to have the interest of young people who wants to give solutions to all the people who hardly ever receive help, they feel worried about soil infertility due to the use of agrochemicals, health problems, the population's negligence to use these products and the not government support with all the treatments, fertilizer and health authorizations that the crops need.

Figure 1. Milpa Alta engagement

Jamaica Market

The second approach we carried out in the integrated human practices section was to visit Jamaica´s market or the flowers market (famous for the diversity and the low prices of their flowers) in Mexico City. Through one of our team members, we found out that some farmers from Villa Guerrero (a locality in which we were interested because of the known cases of intoxication in the zone) were selling their products at this market. Thus we decided it was the correct place to do some questions that we considered could help us to understand their problems with pests and pesticides and if our project could fit their needs. There we got some interviews with farmers from the locality of Villa Guerrero, Santa anna, and Cuatepec Harinas located in the state of Mexico, and another one from the Temixco municipality that belongs to the state of Morelos. We asked them about the pests they have in their region and if it represents a big problem for them, the strategies they use to control pests, and the characteristics of those strategies. Also, we wanted to know about the aid the farmers had from the government and the economic importance of their agricultural activity for them and their families. We got some interesting information: All of the farmers have had some symptoms of intoxication by pesticides such as dizziness, vomiting, headache, etc. Also, in an extreme case, one of the farmers had to go to the hospital. In all the interviews we performed, they told us how common it is for the farmers not to use all the necessary personal protective equipment and that intoxication cases are frequent in their area. We think it probably is because of the lack of protection and the wrong agricultural practices they do when they mix the pesticides they buy increasing their toxic effects (at least one of the pesticides they buy is a red label).

After the interviews, we understood that the pests are the main problem the farmers have to endure, making them lose almost 60% of their crops. As a consequence, they sometimes use red-labeled agrochemicals or even combinations of pesticides that have an unknown formula for reducing their losses. As feedback for future interactions we are going to make some modifications in the initial structure of the interviews, bringing pest and pesticide images to facilitate obtaining information. Also, the producers we consulted seemed interested in learning about different effective alternatives for pesticides, correct disposal of pesticides and how to properly protect themselves in fumigations. In future visits, we would like to give the farmers the manual, Biología Sintética en la agricultura, which we are developing in the biosecurity section In order to improve farmers quality life and health.

Figura 2. Mercado de Jamaica engagement

Before attending to the next community, we modified the final version of the questionnaire thanks to the feedback received.

Donato Guerra

In Mexico there are a large number of states whose main economic activity is the cultivation of avocado, this product is considered a food rich in nutrients, and it is also part of the cultural heritage of regions of the country where they use it as part of the daily activities, that is why we took on the task of looking for the problems of each of the states, through a matrix of decisions in which the number of cultivable hectares, the amount of avocado produced, the type of pest according to the order of insects and their level of affectation.

We found that in the State of Mexico there are three municipalities with high indices of plague which are Valle de Bravo, Villa Guerrero and Donato Guerra, all of which have flower crops, avocado cultivation and bread making in stone ovens as their main economic activity.

Donato Guerra is a municipality surrounded by mountains in which the Mazahuas and some Otomi peoples lived. This municipality is located in the following coordinates of the Greenwich meridian: maximum 19°24'07" north latitude and 100°19'13" west longitude; minimum 19°14'11" north latitude and 100°03'17" west longitude (location photo). It has 3,611 hectares dedicated to the production of avocados distributed among several lands and owners, with this they produce about 10 tons of avocado with values of earnings around $2,228,832.13 MXN per year (TONS).

Figure 3. Location photo of Donato Guerra imaged recovered from (Google Maps,2022)

Figure 4. Production tons

We visited farmers with small, medium and large productions of avocado and flowers, according to the perspective of small producers, the use of agrochemicals has been increasing due to the resistance that insects present each season, a negative point that they report is the application of these products without the correct protection due to the lack of information on the label by the companies.

On the other hand, a medium-sized farmer together with the agronomist Luis Alberto de Paz pointed out that the plague belonging to the Coleoptera order was the bone borer weevil, however, Donato Guerra is an area free of this plague, currently the red spider. and thrips are considered pests and consequently are the main causes of losses of 50% of avocados, leaving economic losses.

Regarding the farmer with large production, we emphasize that for large extensions of land it is necessary to propose ecological scenarios that allow the sustainable use of agrochemicals so that the soil remains healthy and there is no damage to other insects important to nature. For a large amount of production, agronomists implement other techniques to control pests, as well as food supplements for the trees that allow healthier foliage.

Figure 5. Red spider and thrips pests

To eradicate this, farmers have opted for the use of agrochemicals that they are aware are harmful to health, since during and after the application of these products they have noticed changes in their health such as allergies, skin rashes, vision and respiratory problems in people between 15 and 35 years of age, for adults over 36 years of age it is more common for them to present cold symptoms, blindness, sexual impotence, malnutrition and lack of concentration.

It is necessary to mention that another of the consequences of the misuse of pesticides is congenital malformations, there are cases reported by the health center in which babies are born with short limbs or blindness, it is curious to mention that the government of the State of Mexico does not take actions to reduce or inform farmers of the effects they have on crops and for the subsequent marketing chain throughout the republic, but especially in the Central de Abasto in Mexico City, Central de Supply from Toluca de Lerdo, Tenancingo, Ixtapan de Oro, Jamaica market (CDMX), locally, as well as in the market of other neighboring states.

However, another problem is the waste of agrochemicals, from the container that contains the product to the container where it is mixed to obtain the appropriate composition, both the water that comes out as waste and the plastic does not follow an adequate residual treatment, on the one hand, the water mixes with the drainage water and this flows into the lake that is in Valle de Bravo, on the other, there are no garbage trucks that give the plastic a correct destination, it is because That is why farmers choose to burn plastic, crush it or abandon it to the open air, which is why both flora and fauna are in danger.

In agrochemical stores, the use of special equipment for the application of agrochemicals is promoted, which consists of a special suit that covers the entire body, another option that they apply to reduce the use of agrochemicals is amino acids as a fertilizer supplement which promotes tree growth and improves the quality of avocados without causing harm to people or other animals. This is favourable for farmers' economies since the cost of amino acids as well as their application is better compared to purchasing pesticides (30% cheaper).

Figure 6. Application of pesticide in avocado crops

Figure 7. Agrochemicals and amino acids products.

At the end of the visit with the farmers, we understood that knowing the importance of having other less harmful, ecological and effective alternatives to treat pests, due to this, all the farmers gave us their support for the experimental part since they see the project as a potential tool that will provide new opportunities for innovative products and that would break taboos on the use of science and technology to solve current problems.

Workshop Challenges in agriculture

A workshop was held in collaboration with IGEM-Chihuahua entitled “Challenges in agriculture”, where two experts on Mexican crops were invited to each give a brief talk. The target audience for this workshop were mainly agricultural students, but anyone interested in the topic could enter.

Figure 8. Workshop promotion in social media and zoom interaction

Before the start of the lectures by the speakers, an icebreaker was held in which the attendees were asked what they expected from the workshop through the platfrom Menti. This served as a tool to measure what knowledge they had about the challenges facing agriculture today if they knew how to dispose of a pesticide, among other questions. With their answers we realized that the public did have an idea of ​​the challenges in agriculture, however, they were still ideas that had to be substantiated.

Figure 9. Menti dynamic of expectations about the workshop

Regarding the conferences, Dr. Luis Daniel Ortega Martínez spoke to us about genetic damage in products exposed to pesticides or biopesticides, where he addressed the problems that exist with the use of pesticides. For example, a 50% reduction in the number of sperm causes sterility in men exposed to the chemicals that make up pesticides.

He told us that genotoxic substances are substances that cause direct DNA damage, of course, we have barriers in our body such as the skin that prevent these substances from corrupting our body, but when the doses are very high there is little that the human body can do to protect ourselves.When there is no way to get rid of these substances, we begin to have damage to the eyes, bones, liver, pancreas, etc. It was a very interesting talk in which we were able to learn what happens to our DNA in the presence of pesticides.

Figure 10. First informative talk about genetic damage in products exposed to pesticides and biopesticide

The next speaker was Dr. Ramón Chavez Monrreal who told us about how to properly dispose of pesticides. He told us that in a good harvest practice it is necessary to comply with the safety interval provided on the labels of the applied products and that this log serves to support the proper use of pesticide management.He also told us that you should always read the label of a pesticide for its correct disposal in the "Maintenance and disposal" section. Without a doubt this talk was also very interesting, we learned how to improve the ecology of Mexican fields.

Figure 11. Second informative talk about pesticides and how to correctly dispose them.

To verify that our viewers paid attention to the talks presented, dynamic questions were carried out, in which, to encourage participation, the person who had the highest number of correct answers was rewarded with an Amazon 500 card with a value of 500 pesos. Mexicans.

Figure 12. Kahoot winners of the session.

As the last activity of the Workshop, we held a discussion where the public was asked 3 questions that we consider a good summary of what was learned, which were:

Do you think there are political aspects related to the deficiency of agriculture in Mexico?
What position do you have on genetically modified organisms for agricultural application?
What is the biggest challenge that you consider currently exists in agriculture?
There was a lot of participation and a lot of knowledge was generated from the opinions of various people.

Figure 13. Conversatory about agriculture problems and perspectives

Conclusion

In all our journey in Human Practices, we came to the reflection that pesticides are often presented as a threat when they are the ones that have permitted massive agricultural production in our country. Even though this is a moral dilemma, we must understand and consider both advantages and disadvantages. This project has helped us to understand more deeply the lives of farmers and has created more awareness in us about the way these products are handled by people. We aim to give them in the future, a biopesticide that can serve as an effective alternative without all the adverse effects of conventional pesticides.

REFERENCES

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