Agriculture cooperation is front and centre of India-Canada bilateral relations and to achieve goals that are of strategic importance for both countries. With a vibrant trading relationship in agriculture and agri-food research and development partnerships are capable of catering to the contextual needs of India and Canada’s agriculture sector leading to product development, innovation and solution creation. As farmers and rural areas face the dramatic effects of climate change globally, India and Canada are gearing to pursue initiatives on agriculture and climate to make agricultural communities more resilient and well-informed. A major focus of this bilateral cooperation is to help each other.
Launched in March 2022, the opening cluster of STRPC was in the domain of Agriculture. It garnered excellent level of interest from Indian and Canadian researchers. Under the banner of this initiative, the Institute formed Shastri Mapping and Matching Bi-national Interest Workshops as the prime instrument to initiate clusters’ operations and hosted online workshops in the six (6) thematic clusters. These workshops have received tremendous backing and participation from 140 plus attendees from 50 plus institutions/organizations from India and Canada.
In continuance to online workshops, SICI organized one in-person roundtable/ partnership meet in October 2022, that facilitated face-to-face interaction for the associates of the Agri-cluster and participants of SMMIW workshop. Held in the National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP) committee room, ICAR, New Delhi, the Roundtable was attended by over 60 faculty members and researchers from both countries.
Founding Chairs and coordinators
Canada Chair: Dr. Deep Saini, Chair - SICI Agriculture Cluster, and President & Vice-Chancellor, Dalhousie University, Canada
India Chair: Dr. S. Rajendra Prasad, Co-Chair - SICI Agriculture Cluster, and Vice-Chancellor, University of Agricultural Sciences Bangalore, India
co-ordinators
Dr. Balakrishnan Prithiviraj, Coordinator, Bi—national Agri-Cluster, and Associate Vice President (Global Relations), Dalhousie University, Canada
Dr. Nataraja Karaba N., Coordinator, Bi—national Agri-Cluster, and Professor, Department of Crop Physiology, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore (UASB), GKVK, Campus, Bengaluru, India
Current Chairs & coordinators
Canada Chair: Prof. Charlotte Yates President & Vice-Chancellor, University of Guelph succeeding Prof. Deep Saini, who was the founding chair from Canada.
India Chair: Prof. V. Geethalakshmi, Vice Chancellor, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University succeeded Dr. Rajendra Prasad, who superannuated from UAS, Bangalore, India.
co-ordinators
Dr. Balakrishnan Prithiviraj, Coordinator, Bi—national Agri-Cluster, and Associate Vice President (Global Relations), Dalhousie University, Canada
Dr. Nataraja Karaba N., Co-coordinator, Bi—national Agri-Cluster, and Professor, Department of Crop Physiology, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore (UASB), GKVK, Campus, Bengaluru, India
Programmes and Activities for Binational Agri- Cluster
-Shastri Conferences Grant (Agricultural Sciences) (OPEN)
Deadline to apply: May 8, 2024 | 11:59 pm (IST)
-Shastri Lecture Series Grant (Agricultural Sciences) (OPEN)
Deadline to apply: May 8, 2024 | 11:59 pm (IST)
-Shastri Mobility Programme for Curriculum Development (OPEN)
Deadline to apply: May 8, 2024 | 11:59 pm (IST)
-Shastri Best Research Paper Award for Students (CLOSED)
Deadline to apply: December 31, 2023 | 11:59 pm (IST)