India has inked 20 MoUs in the agriculture field in past 3 years

India has inked 20 MoUs in the field of agriculture with U.S., Russia, Italy and others in the last three years for cooperation in R&D and capacity building. Besides fostering bilateral partnership, India also entered into agreement in the farm sector in multilateral format. Broad based and inclusive multilateral cooperation is pursued through international organisations such as Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO), World Food Programme (WFP) etc, Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar said in a written reply to Lok Sabha. Pawar said most recently the country signed MoUs with Indonesia and Afghanistan in January and February 2011 respectively. He said eight MoUs were signed in 2010 with Malawi, Botswana, Norway, USA, South Africa, Argentina, Austria and Tajikistan.

Rest 10 MoUs were inked in 2008 and 2009 with Russia, Canada, Italy, Spain, Brazil and Canada among others, he added.

Pawar said the areas for cooperation identified in these MOUs/agreements broadly include cooperation in research and development, capacity building, germplasm exchange, post harvest management and plant protection.

About benefits likely to accrue to the agri sector from such agreements, the minister said besides enhancing productivity at farmers’ field by developing appropriate technology, such cooperation also facilitates creation of opportunities for trade in agricultural commodities.