USISPF Hosts Roundtable Discussion with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Indian Government Members & U.S. Industry Leaders to Discuss U.S.-India Agriculture Opportunities

WASHINGTON, Oct. 20, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) hosted a roundtable luncheon in Des Moines, Iowa with the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Shri N. Chandrababu Naidu, for U.S. agricultural companies attending the World Food Prize events. Chief Minister Naidu was invited last May to attend the World Food Prize meeting held at Iowa State University from October 18 to 21.

USISPF, in conjunction with Iowa State University, organized the luncheon as a special session on agriculture as part of the World Food Prize meetings this week. The purpose of this roundtable was to discuss areas where the U.S. industry may be able to work with the Andhra Pradesh Government in providing Agricultural Extension services to farmers and to transfer the latest technical knowledge to the farming community, introduction of high yielding varieties, laying demonstrations, imparting training to farmers to improve skills & knowledge to boost up the agricultural production and productivity.

Roundtable attendees included key members of the Indian government, as well as representatives from U.S. Industry and organizations including: John Deere Financials, PepsiCo, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. India Foundation, GrainPro, Pioneer, and the Global Food Banking Network.  The discussion focused around U.S.-India investment and trade opportunities and challenges with members of the Indian government, along with U.S. industry representatives in the agriculture and food sectors.

At the roundtable, Mr. Naidu said, "Agricultural cooperation between the U.S. and India allows the two countries to exchange innovative ideas and promote technical knowledge that has the power to boost agricultural production and yield promising results for both countries."

Mukesh Aghi, President of USISPF, introduced the Honorable Chief Minister, saying, "There are great opportunities for collaboration between the U.S. and Andhra Pradesh. The Indian state of Andhra Pradesh has demonstrated leadership in the Indian food and agriculture industry by leading the way in initiatives such as mega food parks and cold chain development."

Andhra Pradesh State government and Iowa State University signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) during Mr. Naidu's recent visit to the U.S. last spring. The MoC was aimed extending cooperation in agricultural research. Some of the core focus areas for CM Naidu are: Crop Management, Integrated Plant Protection, Farm Mechanization, and Organic Farming.

About the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF):
The US-India Strategic Partnership Forum is committed to creating the most powerful strategic partnership between the U.S. and India. Promoting bilateral trade is an important part of our work, but our mission reaches far beyond this. It is about business and government coming together in new ways to create meaningful opportunities that have the power to change the lives of citizens.

For more details, please visit http://usispf.org/. You can also follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

For more details, please contact:

USISPF:
Nina Anand | nanand@usispf.org
Gauri Datta | gdatta@usispf.org

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SOURCE US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF)