At the end of August and throughout September, with a hybrid model composed of classroom and virtual training in the cities of Culiacan and Los Mochis, our annual training program for the 22/23 agricultural season was completed.

Year after year, at the beginning of each agricultural season, technical personnel from the member companies of the Veggies from Mexico community accompany us to various courses and training sessions to reinforce their knowledge and skills in the areas of food safety, social responsibility, and human development to obtain more tools to face the challenges that local and international markets demand in the fresh produce industry.

This training program consisted of the following courses:

August 30th and 31st | Presentation of the 11R Distinctive: Regulations and Metrics | Los Mochis and Culiacan – In person.

Presented by the biochemical engineer Edgar Saul Ramírez Guerrero – Internal Auditor of Veggies from Mexico and Esmeralda Uribe Nevarez – Communication Coordinator of Veggies from Mexico.

In this training, the attendees explained the functioning of the Eleven Rivers Growers badge through its technical operation regulations and the presentation of the communication strategy of Veggies from Mexico.

September 1st | Artificial intelligence new paradigm in vegetable production – Virtual

Presented by MsC Germán Ever Alfaro Ibarra – General Director of GrowMind company.

The course allowed the speakers to learn about the advances and impact of Artificial Intelligence in vegetable production, with practical cases and real experiences in the field.

September 2nd | Leadership, Communication and Integration of Teams | Culiacán – In person.

Presented by Mr. Jorge Nazario Niebla Mendoza – General Director of the company LIDERA.

This was a theoretical-practical course, to generate a reflection on Leadership from a current perspective. Strengthen the leadership skills of the attendees, and provide practical tools to improve their communication skills, for greater integration with their work teams, positively impacting their organizations.

September 7th | How to atened an inspection visit of the Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare in the agricultural sector | Culiacan – In person.

Presented by Héctor Manuel Sánchez Larrañaga – AHIFORES Certification Coordinator.

During the course, we analyzed the types of inspections that the secretary of labor and social security performs on an agricultural company, and the actions to be taken in each of the stages before, during, and after the inspection visit. Through a verification guide elaborated for the agricultural sector, it will be possible to identify the requirements requested in an inspection visit in terms of safety and hygiene, general working conditions, and training, applying it in role-playing simulation workshops, the knowledge learned will be applied in work teams.

September 8th | Unionization and Collective Contracting | Culiacan – In person.

Presented by Luz María Chombo Tovar, AHIFORES Certification Manager.

The objective of this training is that the participants to identify the particularities and differences of the collective rights of workers and have the tools that allow them to verify if the company complies with labor legislation and with the provisions of Chapter 23 of the T-MEC, to prevent trade sanctions.

September 9th | NOM 003 of the STPS, Agricultural Activities – Safety and Health Conditions at Work | Culiacan – In person

Presented by Héctor Manuel Sánchez Larrañaga – AHIFORES Certification Coordinator.

During the course, the requirements to be met in safety and health at work in the storage, transfer, mixing, filling, and application of agrochemicals were analyzed, as well as the washing of application equipment and personal protective equipment, and the health surveillance of workers that must be implemented to prevent accidents and occupational diseases.

September 13th | Integrated Pest and Disease Management – Virtual

Presented by Eng. Berta Ana Díaz- Merry López – Acevedo from the University Center CEIKOR.

This webinar analyzed the basics of integrated pest management, describing some of the agricultural practices that can be implemented to carry out this control system.

September 14th | Leadership and Supervision of High-Performance Teams – Virtual

Presented by Camelia Lamadrid González and Dr. Raúl González Pinto from Centro Universitario CEIKOR.

In this webinar, the participant observed leadership styles and tools/resources to develop personal and group capabilities that characterize high-performance teams (intelligent teams).

September 19th: Elaboration of Risk Analysis – Los Mochis – In Person

Presented by Mr. Claudio Jesús Román Mosqueda – Internal Auditor of Veggies from Mexico.

In this course, the participant will learn to identify, evaluate and/or control at an acceptable level the risks associated with agricultural production processes.

September 20th: Internal Auditor Training – Los Mochis – In person

Presented by Lesly Berenice Hernández Chávez – SMETA Auditor at Control Unión.

The objective of the course is to provide the participant with the possibility of understanding the purpose of managing an audit. Also, the analysis of the role and responsibilities of an auditor to plan, conduct, report and follow up an audit.

September 21st | Implementing a food defense plan in your farming operation – Virtual

Presented by Mauricio Villanueva Soto – Technical Trainer at NSF Latin America.

Detect vulnerable areas of food companies and be able to establish a preventive action plan aimed at minimizing the risk of intentional contamination, this webinar provides the basics of food defense that will allow you to protect your organization.

September 22nd| How to Assess Food Fraud Risks in Agricultural Organizations – Virtual

Presented by Mauricio Villanueva Soto – Technical Trainer at NSF Latin America.

Have you assessed the risks related to food fraud in your supply chain? This webinar demonstrated the fundamentals of a food fraud vulnerability assessment, required to comply with GFSI standards.

September 23rd: Proposed Agricultural Water Standard – Virtual

Presented by Ph.D. Mauricio Castelo – Member of FDA’s Produce Safety Rule division.

The attendees were provided with information on the Overview of the proposed rule, components of the agricultural water assessment including corrective and mitigation measures, and the 5 factors that are part of the agricultural water assessment: agricultural water systems, agricultural water practices, crop characteristics, environmental conditions, other relevant factors, adjacent and nearby land uses, results of the agricultural water assessment: flow chart and tool in the agricultural water analysis.

September 26th | Federal Labor Law applicable to agricultural enterprises – Los Mochis – In person

Presented by Elvia Rosa Martinez Bueno, Pharmaceutical Chemist and Biologist – Internal Auditor of Veggies from Mexico.

This course provided information on the articles of the Federal Labor Law and the regulatory framework that apply to the agricultural sector.

September 28 | Maximum Residue Limits and degradation of molecules in their metabolites – Virtual

Presented by Gladys Maria Garcia Reyes and the Engineer Jose Javier Valdes Gonzalez of SCS Global Services Mexico.

The course covered: What is a pesticide, what is a Maximum Residue Limit, access links to MRL’s from different countries, introduction to pesticide dissipation, examples of pesticides, and their transformation to metabolites according to CFR.

September 29 | Marketing for the Fresh Produce – Virtual

Presented by Mr. Alejandro Sanchez Calvo – General Director of PublyCom Brands.

This course dealt with two levels of Marketing:

Marketing for the agricultural company / Marketing for the industry or region.

a. Agricultural company level

What do customers want to know about you?

What cost-efficient actions can be successfully implemented in your company?

b. Industry or regional level:

Success stories

What can we do as an industry in Sinaloa or Mexico?

What can we – are we doing in Veggies from Mexico?

September 30 | The Impact of SMETA 2 Pillars in “Safety and Hygiene”- Virtual

Presented by the Engineer Jesus Jovany Obeso Lopez – General Manager of JOBSH

The objective of this training was to explain to the participants the impacts on safety and hygiene issues before, during, and after a SMETA 2 pillar audit.