Indian Council of Food and Agriculture (ICFA) signed an agreement today with the Borlaug Institute of South Asia (BISA) for agricultural development in South Asian countries by jointly mobilising resources and technologies. The MoU was signed in New Delhi between Chairman of ICFA, Dr. MJ Khan and Director General of BISA, Dr. H S Gupta (Seen in Pic from L to R: Dr MJ Khan, Chairman ICFA, Dr. RB Singh, Chancellor CAU, Dr M Moni, Director- SU Institute of Agriculture Informatics, Mr. Ramesh Deshpande, Convener – India Agriculture Group, Washington DC and Dr HS Gupta, DG BISA)

ICFA and BISA have enormous opportunity for cooperation, complementation and synergy as the two organizations endeavor towards the service of farmers and humanity. There are commonalities in their respective mandates, especially in the field of research aimed at doubling food production, ICT, promoting technology transfer, research outputs targeted to small and marginal farmers across the region, encouraging investment in Agricultural Research, organizing seminars, conferences and entrepreneurships development, said DG,BISA, Dr. HS Gupta. ICFA Chairman, Dr. MJ Khan said that signing of the MoU will help ICFA in projects and in mobilising technological support to its member organisations.

Considering this factor, the two important bodies agreed to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for collaborative ventures. BISA and ICFA have mutually agreed upon working jointly in the fields of rural development, agriculture and food, implementing programmes on food security, environmental sustainability and accelerating the growth in farm productivity and agri-business. Both the organizations will together pursue the development of common programmes which shall enable them to effectively and efficiently utilize the available resources for concrete actions to achieve the objectives of their respective mandates. They will endeavour to provide assistance to farmers and agri-entrepreneurs by addressing their technology, marketing and financing related issues. The MoU signed will remain in effect for three years after signature by both the organizations. Besides, both the organizations may later enter into supplementary agreements as the need arises in future.