New Delhi, 14 November (H.S.): India has reiterated its commitment to strengthening agricultural cooperation with countries across Africa and Asia, with a particular focus on agricultural research, the exchange of modern technologies and capacity building.

At the seventh meeting of the Technical Programme Committee (TPC) of the African-Asian Rural Development Organization (AARDO), held in Lusaka, Zambia, from November 12 to 14, India emphasised the need to expand international partnerships in the agricultural sector.

The meeting also highlighted the achievements of the longstanding collaboration between the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and AARDO. Dr. Naveen P. Singh, ICAR Assistant Director General (International Relations), said that over the past 17 years, the partnership had facilitated 51 training programmes through 11 ICAR institutes, benefiting more than 900 participants from AARDO member countries.

The collaboration has played an important role in promoting the exchange of knowledge, skills and modern agricultural technologies among participating countries.

A key highlight of the meeting was the proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between ICAR and AARDO, which seeks to expand cooperation beyond existing training activities into eight priority areas. The proposed framework envisages joint agricultural research, exchanges of experts, sharing of plant genetic resources, transfer of agricultural technologies and academic collaboration, among other initiatives.

The agreement is expected to provide countries across Africa and Asia with greater opportunities to draw on one another's experience and expertise in agricultural research and innovation.

To make the partnership more structured and result-oriented, ICAR also proposed a comprehensive roadmap. The plan includes identifying and establishing national coordination centres, developing joint action plans, preparing a calendar of training programmes for 2027 and setting up a joint working group to periodically review progress.

The renewed ICAR-AARDO partnership aims to share India's agricultural innovations, scientific achievements and institutional expertise with countries across Africa and Asia. It is also expected to support the development of resilient agricultural systems capable of addressing challenges such as climate change, strengthen rural livelihoods and advance South-South cooperation in the agricultural sector.

The initiative is envisaged as a broader platform for collaboration in agricultural research, technological innovation, human resource development and knowledge exchange between India and its partner countries.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar