21 May 2024|Noida | Amity University, Noida Online
Amity University organizes Indo-Argentina Webinar to explore the potential areas of collaboration with University of Buenos Aires, Argentina
Amity Food and Agriculture Foundation, Amity University Uttar Pradesh Noida campus, signed an MoU for cooperation in the area of agriculture with University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Under this MoU, an Indo-Argentina webinar was organized, wherein experts from Amity University and University of Buenos Aires, Argentina discussed the potential areas of academic and research collaboration.
Addressing the gathering, Mr. Mariano Beheran, The Minister-Agriculture Attache, Embassy of Argentina Republic, averred, “We are extremely excited about the collaboration between the two Universities. I have been a student of University of Buenos Aires and my work is to enhance collaboration between India and Argentina. I have lived in India for five years, during which I met many farmers and people from the academia. Both countries have agriculture as their major focus area as India has been into agriculture for 4500 years and Argentina for 200 years. Through this collaboration, we are certain that both Universities will stand to gain immensely and contribute to their own as well as each other’s growth.”
Speaking on the occasion, Prof. Dr. Gustavo Schrauf, Secretary of Development and Institutional Affairs at FAUBA, opined, “We hope that the Webinar will be mutually beneficial for both institutions and we are looking forward to many more such fruitful collaborations in the future, with Amity University.”
Highlighting the significance of the MoU, Prof. (Dr.) Balvinder Shukla, Vice Chancellor, AUUP, said, “The MoU marks the beginning of a strong partnership between the two Universities to foster joint activities in research and academia. Research needs to reach the industries and it should align with the goals of the country. As per the India’s vision of Viksit Bharat@2047, we aim to make India a self-reliant nation, and amongst the top 5 nations in research and innovation and the third largest economy in the world. Collaborative agricultural research will increase the income of the farmers by five times, thereby contributing to economic development of both the countries.”
Ms. Maria Sol Galli, Head of the Corporation and Bilateral Relations Department, UBA, welcomed the guests on this occasion and said that the Webinar is of immense significance since it will throw light upon the various aspects of agriculture of both countries and the insights shared by the expert will be helpful in deriving meaningful outcomes.
Dr. W. Selvamurthy, President ASTIF stated, “There is a need to fill the gaps between demand and supply of food and increase productivity. Therefore, a strong focus on microbial technology and post-harvest technology is required, along with genome engineering and tissue culture. AI, data analytics and bio threat mitigation are some of the areas in which the two Universities can work together.”
Welcoming the guests on this occasion, Dr. Nutan Kaushik, Director General, Amity Food and Agriculture Foundation said, “We have been importing pulses and soyabean oil from Argentina and exporting a few commodities from India to Argentina. The webinar will highlight the potential areas of collaboration between two Universities and joint research initiatives will add new perspectives to many concepts.”
During the one-day webinar, Dr. Nutan Kaushik, Director General, Amity Food and Agriculture Foundation shared her views on ‘Bioprospecting of biodiversity’, Prof. Jorge Zavala, Associate Professor at the Chair of Biochemistry from the School of Agriculture, University of Buenos Aires, shared insights on ‘Crop defences against insect attack’ and Prof. Gerardo Rubio, INBA director (CONICET-University of Buenos Aires), and Fertilizers Chair from the School of Agriculture of the University of Buenos Aires, deliberated upon the topic ‘Argentine agriculture has more to offer than just grains and wheat’.