US-India prepare farm initiative before Bush visit

Agriculture officials, experts and private entrepreneurs in India and the US are engaged in hectic activity to give shape to the proposed joint Knowledge Initiative on Agriculture (KIA) before US President George W Bush's visit to India in March.

The initiative will facilitate collaboration between the two countries in promoting agriculture research, education and commercial links.

Both the US and India, being leaders in different fields of science and technology, will complement each others' capabilities through strategic alliance in key areas which are currently being finalised.

The launch of the KIA was announced in the joint declaration of President Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the latter's US visit in July last year. A formal document for this purpose was signed during the recent visit of US trade representative JB Penn to India.

The KIA board, set up to work out the detailed outline for this alliance, is co-chaired by Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) chief Mangala Rai and US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Administrator Ellen Terpstra.

Renowned agriculture scientists Norman Borlaug and MS Swaminathan are the honorary advisers to the US and Indian wings of the KIA board, respectively.

Four broad areas were identified for mutual collaboration during the first meeting of the KIA board held recently in the US.

These include agriculture education, especially learning resources, curriculum development and training, food processing and the use of by-products and bio-fuels; biotechnology, and water management.

Rai said both sides would come up with specific project proposals in these areas in the next meeting to be held in India on February 12 so that the initiative could be given a final shape before President Bush's India visit.

India has already constituted groups of experts, with private sector participation, to chalk out proposals in each of the identified four fields.

These teams would submit their reports by January 16 which would be considered at a conference of the representatives of the ICAR, state agriculture universities and private companies to be held here on February 4, Rai said.

He expressed the confidence that both countries would be able to contribute the required funds for this initiative. "Where India is concerned, funding is no constraint," he said.

There is considerable political will in both the countries to see the initiative through. US universities are keen to collaborate with Indian universities and research institutes.

They have begun the process of approaching financiers for mobilising resources for the KIA. The exact mechanism for holding these funds and utilising them for various schemes would be decided in future negotiations, the ICAR chief said.