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India, US to collaborate in agriculture, India's prime minister tells US Congress (19/7/2005)

And who's going to gain most from this collaboration, do you think?

"I am very happy to say that U.S. President George Bush and I have decided to launch second generation of India-US collaboration in agriculture" - India's Prime Minister in his address to a joint session of the US Congress
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India, US to collaborate in agri: PM
Tuesday, 19 July , 2005
http://sify.com/finance/fullstory.php?id=13899037

Washington: Declaring that economic reforms are "durable and irreversible," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said India will collaborate with the United States to bring about second green revolution to change the face of rural India.

"The Green Revolution lifted countless millions above poverty.... I am very happy to say that U.S. President George Bush and I have decided to launch second generation of India-US collaboration in agriculture," Singh said in his address to a joint session of the US Congress.

Asserting the UPA Governments determination to raise country’s annual growth rate to 8 per cent over the next two years, Singh said, "We will ensure that this growth is inclusive so that its benefits are widely spread."

Elaborating on Indo-US collaboration, Singh, who had held wide-ranging talks with Bush yesterday, said the new initiative in agriculture will focus on basic and strategic research for sustainable development in agriculture to meet the challenge of raising productivity in conditions of water stress.

It seeks to take information and know how directly to farming community and promote technologies that minimise post-harvest wastage and improve storage, besides gearing Indian farmers to fully participate in global farm trade.

On economic reforms, Singh said though there are criticisms of them being too slow, "I assure you, they are durable and irreversible."
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HERE'S THE RELEVANT PART OF THE SPEECH:

The bulk of our population still depends upon agriculture for a living. The United States was an early partner of India in this area, helping to establish agricultural universities and research institutions in our country in the 1960s. I acknowledge that help with gratitude. It was a great American, Nobel Laureate Norman Borlaug, supported by a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, who developed high yielding varieties of wheat in Mexico which were then adapted to Indian conditions in the Indian Universities you helped us to establish. This was the start of the Green Revolution in India that lifted countless millions above poverty. I am very happy to say that President Bush and I have decided to launch a second generation of India-US collaboration in the field of agriculture. The new initiative will focus on basic and strategic research for sustainable development of agriculture to meet the challenge of raising productivity in conditions of water stress. It seeks to take information and know-how directly to the farming community and promote technologies that minimise post harvest wastage and improve food storage. It will also help Indian farmers to meet phytosanitary conditions and enable them to participate more fully in global agricultural trade.

FOR THE FULL TEXTOF THE INDIAN PM'S ADDRESS TO THE JOINT SESSION OF THE US CONGRESS
http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=10250

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