ISU part of sharing agreement with India

Iowa State University is one of six U.S. schools to participate in a program to develop sharing agreements with the University of Agricultural Sciences in Bangalore, India. I-S-U professor Ramesh Kanwar says part of the agreements will involved agriculture.He says they’re going to look at India’s sustainable agriculture, their subsidy policies and their water systems for irrigation. Not all of the programs involve agriculture. He says Bangalore is also becoming the information hub of India, and he says they hope to start some new relationships. Kanwar says both countries will benefit from the sharing agreements.Kanwar says the U.S. spent millions of dollars helping India develop it’s agricultural system in the 50’s — which helped the country develop a way to feed its citizens. Kanwar says politics led to a severing of ties with India in the 1970’s, and this new program looks to get things going again.He says India is now self-sustaining in agriculture and is even starting to export some grains. He says they feel like India must have some other areas worth sharing in. ISU has been awarded a 299-thousand dollar 3-year grant from the United States Agency for International Development for its portion of the program.