Powell underscores importance of US-India partnership

US Ambassador to India Nancy J Powell today emphasised the importance of the US-India partnership aimed at helping small farmers to reduce costs of inputs to boost agricultural yield in Bihar.
Undertaking a visit to one of the projects supported by the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) in Bihar, she said that the US-India partnership was based on joint commitment to improve farm productivity and climate resilience in order to increase farmers' profits.
Powell pointed out as to how the success of CSISA was a great example of the partnership between the two countries that has made a positive difference in people's lives in Bihar.

The US Ambassador met state government officials, scientists, agricultural extension staff, and women farmers during her visit to the Indian Council for Agriculture Research (ICAR) centre for the Eastern Region which serves as a demonstration site to showcase new technologies and farm management practices to the farmers in Bihar.
These technologies and practices can significantly increase productivity, officials said.
The CSISA project is jointly funded by the US Agency for International Development and the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, they said, adding it supports efforts to improve growth in cereal production in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Odisha.

Such efforts utilise improved cropping systems, better management of natural resources, development of new cereal varieties and hybrids, and increased public and private investments in markets.

In Bihar, the CSISA hub operates out of Patna, where new high-yielding, heat and water-stress-tolerant varieties of rice and wheat and associated technologies are developed, tested, and adopted.
CSISA also helps small farmers to come together to access cost saving innovations and technologies, the officials added.