Ithaca, Dec. 12: Exchanging scientific information freely, forging cooperative research, hosting Indian executives, students and faculty, and sharing agricultural biotechnology to promote the development and use of drought- and pest-resistant crops. These were just a few of the collaborations that were strengthened when Susan A. Henry, the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) at Cornell signed a renewed memorandum of understanding with officials representing the Indian Council of Agricultural Research on Dec. 12.

Ronnie Coffman, director of International Programs in CALS, left, shakes hands with Mangala Rai, secretary and director general of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research at the Ramada Inn in Ithaca Dec. 12, following the signing of a renewed memorandum of understanding.

The agreement was signed during a visit to Cornell by Indian senior executives and government officials on the board of the newly formed Knowledge Initiative in Agricultural Education, Teaching, Research, Service and Commercial Linkages (KIA).

"KIA is an initiative, signed between U.S. President George Bush and India's Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh in July, that provides momentum to re-energize the longstanding tradition of knowledge exchange betweenthe two countries," said Ronnie Coffman, director of International Programs in CALS.

"We fit Cornell are incredibly fortunate that Cornell is so high on the KIA team's list for collaborations that the delegation chose to visit only Cornell on this trip," added Coffman.

The Indian team members visited labs and faculty members associated with Cornell's Institute for Genomic Diversify, Department of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell Cooperative Extension, organic agriculture, Mann Library, Veterinary College, rice mapping, poultry program, food retail program, Food Science Incubator and Cornell Center for Technology, Enterprise and Commercialization.

"We are very active in agricultural research in India, and renewing a memo of understanding with them builds on our more than 50 years of Cornell-India collaborations concerning agricultural education and research," said K.V. Raman, associate director of international programs in CALS.

Many of the Cornell-India linked programs are in collaboration with Sathguru Management Consultants, an India-based firm that represents CALS in India.

Source: Cornell Chronicle
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