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July 21, 2009
The
University of Florida (UF) and the
International Crops Research
Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) will soon
establish a joint University of Florida-ICRISAT International
Distance Education Center (UF-ICRISAT-IDEC) based at the
latter’s headquarters in Patancheru, Andhra Pradesh, India.
A Letter of Agreement was recently signed by ICRISAT Director
General Dr William D Dar and UF Interim Senior Vice President,
Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Dr Larry Arrington.
This collaboration is designed to create opportunities to
develop and strengthen regionally relevant training and
education programs. The new center will further enable ICRISAT
and UF to pursue areas of common interest drawing on the joint
expertise of the two partner institutions.
A series of short courses will be offered by the UF faculty with
the participation of ICRISAT scientists. The first set of
courses will deal with GIS in landscape analysis, analysis of
bioenergy projects, soil and water science aspects in watershed
development, crop modeling, and the use of geo-statistical data
in environmental assessment. Future topics will include
biotechnology and related topics as well. Participants in these
short courses will receive a certificate jointly issued by the
UF and ICRISAT.
Talking about this new initiative, Dr William Dar says,
“Capacity strengthening of professionals in the developing
countries is an absolute must in the current context of new
vulnerabilities and opportunities in agriculture and natural
resources management. We consider this as a first step in
bringing research universities such as U Florida closer to where
the developing country professionals work”.
Dr Larry Arrington believes that this initiative will contribute
to strengthening UF’s presence in the South Asian region. “We
are pleased to partner with ICRISAT in this joint educational
endeavor, which will help the UF to build its presence in South
Asia. This region is of great importance to our expanding
international presence. Moreover, this partnership with ICRISAT
provides us with an opportunity to join with our Center
colleagues on a wide array of research and education activities
of mutual interest.”
The center will also lead to the development of new
opportunities for UF faculty to strengthen and enhance the
international reputation of UF’s educational programs in the
areas of sustainable agriculture and rural/urban development,
natural resource conservation, and the protection of the
environment.
In addition, and as a secondary activity, UF-ICRISAT-IDEC will
contribute to the development of study-abroad opportunities for
UF undergraduate students, graduate student research, promotion
of faculty sabbaticals with South and Southeast Asia-based
institutions (especially in India), and the facilitation of
research partnerships and collaboration.
The first course in the series, GIS for landscape analysis, will
begin on 27 July and will be led by Dr Sabine Grunwald, Distance
Education Coordinator of UF.
To date, ICRISAT has invested substantial resources in
strengthening the capacity of regional partners to promote
improved food and livelihood security in the drylands of Asia
and sub-Saharan Africa.
UF has been engaged in research and educational activities in
the region focused on improved water and nutrient utilization
for sustainable crop production and conservation of soil and
water resources as well as curriculum innovations for improving
higher education using e-technologies.
For further information, contact Dr V Balaji, Head, Knowledge
Management and Sharing, ICRISAT at
v.balaji@cgiar.org
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