Colorado State University, College of Agricultural Sciences took another giant step towards globalization of the CSU campus by signing an International Memorandum of Understanding with Punjab Agricultural University, (PAU) India. PAU is one the leading agricultural university in India and is similar to land-grant universities in the US.“The state of Punjab that occupy only 1.5% of the nation’s geographical area accounts for 22% of wheat production, 11% of rice production and 10% of the total cotton production in India, that is where the green revolution was started in India by Noble Laureate Dr. Norman Borlaug” said Dr. Manjit S. Kang, Vice-Chancellor of PAU during the IMoU signing ceremony at the Provost Office in CSU on September 29, 2009.
Department of Soil & Crop Sciences Associate Professor of Precisi
on Agriculture, Dr. Raj Khosla, who was recently recognized with the CSU Monfort Professorship, was instrumental in making this IMoU between the two Universities possible. In 2006, President Bush during his visit to India, signed a US-India Agricultural Knowledge Initiative (AKI). As a part of the AKI Capacity Building program, Dr. Khosla, was invited by USDA Foreign Agricultural Services in early 2007 to be a member of the US delegation for a workshop on Capacity Building in New Delhi. Later the same year, Dr. Khosla spent a few weeks in India visiting several agricultural institutions including PAU during his sabbatical leave. He was fascinated by the campus and on-going research being conducted at PAU. His visit led to forging research collaborations with his counterparts at PAU and resulted in hosting a visiting scientist Dr. J.S. Mahal from PAU for a year. “This IMoU will attract numerous more scientists from PAU to collaborate with us in different disciplines” he said.
Dr. Craig Beyrouty, Dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences, who is interested in visiting PAU in near future, added that “The IMoU would really allow and encourage active research collaborations among the scientists of the two institutions and would facilitate an exchange of faculty members and perhaps students in future”. Dr. Lee Sommers, Director of the Agricultural Experiment Station who was present at the IMoU signing ceremony said that “This IMoU provides an excellent opportunity for our faculty members and students to visit and collaborate with PAU”.
The PAU is located in Ludhiana in the state of Punjab in north-west India, about 200 miles west of the capital city of India, New Delhi. The university covers an area of 1,510 acres on its main campus and 4,615 acres at the regional research stations. The university has well equipped laboratories, library, and lecture rooms and elaborate farm facilities. The PAU has played a key role in increasing food grain production in the country and has been instrumental in ushering in the era of Green Revolution in India. In recognition of PAUs outstanding achievements in agricultural research, education and extension, it was ranked as the best agricultural university in India in 1995. The PAU has four colleges, i.e., College of Agriculture, College of Agricultural Engineering, College of Home Science and the College of Basic Sciences & Humanities. PAU offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in 34 different disciplines. More information about the university can be obtained by visiting http://www.pau.edu/.
