From 5 through 14 September, the Graduate School of Agriculture held the "2016 Kyoto Study Program for Kunming University of Science and Technology (KUST)", with 12 students taking part from Kunming. The 10-day program was organized as part of the "Short-term Student Exchange Program for the Global Future of Food, Life, and the Environment: Sustainable Farming in Yunnan", together with the Wild & Wise Collaborative Learning Program supported by Kyoto University.
Enrolled in the KU Faculty of Agriculture as short-term international students for the duration of the program, the participants attended two lectures by GSA researchers -- "Developing New Varieties of Japanese Rice Plants" by Professor Yutaka Okumoto, and "Conditions and Problems of the Japanese Beef Production System" by Associate Professor Hajime Kumagai -- and toured GSA's experimental farm in Kizugawa, Kyoto Prefecture.
In addition to gaining insights into Japanese agriculture through these experiences, the KUST students visited a tourist farm, the Lake Biwa Canal Museum of Kyoto, the final-disposal site for household waste in Nara, the Archeological Institute of Kashihara, and the Nara Prefecture Complex of Man'yo Culture, learning about local ecosystems and eco-preservation efforts.
The participants also had opportunities to experience traditional Japanese culture, including a flower arrangement workshop.
In all of these activities, they were joined by KU students who will visit KUST in late September. The participants from Kyoto actively took part in the program, getting to know their counterparts from China and promising to see them again soon in Kunming.
Special lecture "Studying Abroad and My Study and Life"
At the Archaeological Institute of Kashihara, learning about development and preservation
Learning about Japanese agriculture at GSA's experimental farm
Visiting the final-disposal site in Nara to learn about wastewater treatment and eco-preservation
