A delegation of deans and professors from the New Mexico State University (NMSU) had marathon sessions with Ministers and Secretaries of Agriculture, Food and Skill Development here on Monday and Tuesday.
The delegation lead by Rolando A Flores, Dean and Chief Administrative Officer, NMSU College of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, (ACES) held discussions with Minister for Agriculture Somireddi Chandramohan Reddy, secretaries Girija Shankar and JSV Prasad and Skill Development Corporation MD K Sambasiva Rao on collaboration in water management, latest practices in agriculture, food processing and skill development.
NMSU College of Engineering dean Lakshmi N. Reddy, vice-president for research and dean of Graduate School Luis Cifuentes, School of Teacher Preparation, Administration and Leadership Lauren Cifuentes and India coordinator Kumar Annavarapu interacted with the officials.
Talking to The Hindu , Mr. Kumar said that the government had come to an understanding with the university to develop a water management and research programme for the drought-prone districts of Rayalaseema.
The university was going to develop a training programme — Future Farmers of Andhra Pradesh (FFAP) — on the lines of the prestigious Future Farmers of America (FFA), Mr. Kumar said.
Prof. Flores said that NMSU was a land-grant university with over 2 lakh hectares of land in which billions of dollars of research was being done continuously. NMSU Las Cruces was among the eight drone research centres in the U.S. , said Prof. Flores.
‘Advantages galore’
Prof. Lakshmi Reddy said that several Indian students were studying on NMSU campuses and the climate in New Mexico State was very similar to that of A.P. The cost of living was comparatively less, he said.
Prof. Cifuentes said the agreement with the government and colleges of Andhra Pradesh was part of the endeavour to reach out to other countries, he said.
NMSU already had a tie-up with the government of Punjab, but with a little effort the university had agreed to come to the ‘highly progressive State’ of A.P., Mr. Kumar said.
NSMU had already selected over a dozen engineering colleges in around Vijayawada for collaborations.
The delegation signed an agreement with VR Siddhartha Engineering College, Kanuru, on Tuesday morning.
