NC A&T State University Collaborations with Indian Universities

in Agriculture and Environment

UNC – India Summit, Chapel Hill, NC January 30, 2013

G. B. ReddyGraduate Professor

Soil and Environmental SciencesDepartment of Natural Resources and Environmental Design

School of Agriculture and Environmental SciencesNorth Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Greensboro, NC

Tamilnadu Agricultural University

• December 2005 MOU signed by NC A&T University Chancellor with

Tamilnadu Agricultural University in India

US-India Agricultural Knowledge Initiative Program

• Started by President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2005.

• Project “ Sustainable Water Resource Management: Collaborative Research and Education”, proposal was developed by University of Florida and NCA&T State University in collaboration with the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) and Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU) and was submitted to the US-India Agricultural Knowledge Initiative Program, Washington, DC.

• Proposal was funded for $100,000 and $200,000 matched by the University of Florida

• Indian Collaborators received equal amount of money in Rs by their counterpart agency (ICAR)

• Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) collaborator joined after the project was approved

US-India Agricultural Knowledge Initiative Project

• The Project began in November 2006.• January 2007: Principal Investigators traveled to

India to visit ICAR and IARI (New Delhi), PAU (Ludhiana), and ANGRAU (Hyderabad) for project kickoff meeting to plan workshops, student recruitment strategies, faculty training strategies, and research site selection strategies

• July 2007: Six faculty members from IARI, PAU and ANGRAU visited University of Florida and NC A&T State University to plan joint research projects and to meet with U.S. faculty and University administrators.

US-India Agricultural Knowledge Initiative Project

• Signed MOU with ANGRAU

• January 2008: Eight faculty members from UF and NC A&T visited ICAR and IARI (Delhi), PAU (Ludhiana), ANGRAU (Hyderabad) to tour and to select research sites and interview potential graduate students.

US-India Agricultural Knowledge Initiative Project

PAU Faculty with Local Farmers

ANGRAU Faculty

Wargal Watershed

UF and NC A&T Faculty, meeting with the Minister of Agriculture in Hyderabad

Ujjina Village, Mewat District, Haryana

Gurgaon Nala – Passing through Ujjina Village, Haryana

Ujjina Village Farmers

RESEARCH

• Research – Punjab Agricultural University

• Birmi- village site was selected for research as a Micro-watershed in Ludhiana district in central Punjab.

• Objectives: Sustainable use of water resources Use of simulation models (DSSAT) in

water resource-agriculture-ecosystems management

US-India Agricultural Knowledge Initiative Project

ANGRAU

• Wargal- village site was selected for research as a Micro-watershed in Medak district, in Central Andhra Pradesh.

Irrigation & Fertilizer Affects on Productivity, Water Use and N Balance in Rice & Maize Cropping Systems in Telangana Region, India

• OBJECTIVES Develop water saving irrigation methods in rice and maize to improve water productivity Study the effect of irrigation methods and N application rate on grain yield and N uptake and recovery in rice-

tomato and maize-rice cropping system. To extend the analysis of N and water management options using crop soil models to develop optimal N and water

management strategies.AEROBIC RICE CONCEPTGrow rice like other cereal:

no puddling, no standing water, no soil saturation, dry land preparation

EVALUATION OF CONSTRUCTED WETANDFOR IMPROVING AGRICULTURAL WATER QUALITY IN UJJINA WATERSHED,

HARYANA, INDIA• OBJECTIVES

Quantify water and chemical (heavy metal) dynamics and treatment efficiency in a constructed wetland Evaluate the feasibility of using constructed wetland for improving agricultural waters in the Ujjina

watershed. Use the model for evaluating constructed wetland designs for application to other regions

PROJECT OUTCOMES January 2008 – June 2008: Four graduate students from India were accepted into Ph.D.

program at UF and out of four, two Ph.D graduate students were willing to work on AKI project to conduct research in India. The tuition and salaries were paid by the UF.

June – July 2008: One faculty member from ANGRAU visited NCA&T and the National Soil Erosion Laboratory, Purdue, IN for soil Erosion and land management training

July 2009: Two faculty members from ANGRAU visited UF and NCA&T for technical training on SWAT modeling and soil management.

July 2009: One student from ANGRAU was recruited into M.S. degree program at NCA&T

July 2009: Two Indian students returned to India (one to PAU and one to ANGRAU) to conduct research. Four faculty advisors from UF and NCA&T accompanied these students to provide on-site advice and support. Students remained in India until August 2010.

2009: DSSAT model training workshops were conducted at ANGRAU and PAU. 2011: Soil quality and land management workshop was conducted at ANGRAU May 2011: Two students graduated with Ph.D. degrees and one student received M.S.

degree.

US-India Agricultural Knowledge Initiative Project

Biofuels Proposal

• Biofuels Proposal was submitted in Nov 2012 through Obama and Singh Initiatives on Science and Technology Program.

Thank You !!!