India – U.S. Agricultural Knowledge Initiative

Washington, DC
September 25, 2008

The Joint Statement between Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and US President George Bush on 18th July, 2005 included mention of launching of a India-US Knowledge Initiative on Agriculture (AKI) focused on promoting teaching, research, service and commercial linkages. Subsequently, a joint declaration for the AKI was signed on 12th November, 2005 by the Ministry of Agriculture of India and the US Department of Agriculture with the basic objective of re-energizing the India US partnership.

The key areas of cooperation, detailed work-plan and commensurate joint deliverables are finalized in the meetings of the Joint India-US AKI Board. The Board is co-chaired by the Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) and Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) from Government of India and the Administrator USDA/FAS from US side. Other members represent agricultural universities, Government and private sector. The AKI Board meets twice a year, alternatively, in India and USA. So far, six Board Meetings have been held; the last one on April 15-16, 2008 in New Delhi. 

The four areas identified for cooperation in the Work Plan are – (i) Human Resources and Institutional Capacity Building (cross-cutting areas), (ii) Agri-processing and Marketing, (iii) Emerging Technologies, and (iv) Natural Resource Management. Under these main areas, the four focus areas are – (i) Education, learning resources, curriculum development and training, (ii) Food processing, use of by-products and bio-fuels, (iii) Biotechnology and (iv) Water Management. So far, 29 Indian scientists/faculty members have received training in USA under the India-US Borlaug Fellowship Program. Ten collaborative projects have been initiated, 14 joint workshops have been organized in India, and Indian scientists have participated in three workshops in the USA.

There are ten collaborative projects, eight are ongoing and two have been completed.

Biotechnology
· Pigeon pea Genomics Initiative
· Genetic Engineering for Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Crops.

Water Management: 
· Water harvesting for groundwater re-charge and bio-drainage for salinity control.
· Sustainable Water Resource Management: U.S.-India Collaborative Research and Education
· On Farm Water Management for Rain-fed Agriculture on Benchmark Watersheds in Five Diverse Eco-Regions of India
· Information & Communications Technologies for Capacity Building Model in Water Management: U.S. India Collaborative Extension/ Outreach and Distance Education

Human Resources & Institutional Capacity Building
· Teaching and Learning Excellence: A Capacity Building Model
· Capacity Building for Library Professionals.
· Capacity Building for Intellectual Property Protection and Technology Licensing in Agriculture (Project completed) 
· Capacity Building for Risk Analysis & Modeling to Promote Trade (Project completed) 


Joint Workshops Organized in India

· Water Management, September, 2006, New Delhi 
· Human Resource and Institutional Capacity Building, November 2006, GBPUAT, Pantnagar 
· Curriculum Development in emerging areas of agriculture and rural development, January 2007, New Delhi 
· Contract Farming: Methods and Experiences, May 2007 at New Delhi 
· Strengthening of Indian Library and Information System, May 2007, New Delhi
· SPS Capacity Building and Science-based Risk Analysis and Modeling, July - August, 2007, Hyderabad
· Agribusiness and Food Industry in Developing Countries, August, 2007, Lucknow
· Capacity Building in the Avian Viral Diseases and Animal Biotechnological Applications on August 2007, Tamil Nadu.
· Four Cold Chain Workshops (Chennai, Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata)
· Harnessing the Benefits of Biotechnology, March, 2008 at New Delhi
· Sanitary and Phyto-sanitary (SPS) Regulations on July, 2008 at NASC Complex, New Delhi

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