Indian students visit Cornell as part of dual-nation course on developing-world agriculture

Twenty students, a faculty member and two administrators from three universities in India have just competed a two-week trip to Cornell, capping off a semester with the joint Cornell-India course, Agriculture in Developing Nations. In January, Cornell students in the course will travel to India and tour agricultural and agribusiness sites with the Indian students as well as work, travel and prepare team projects.

While at Cornell, the Indian students toured the meteorology lab and tissue culture lab in Bradfield Hall, the Food Processing and Development Pilot Plant in Stocking Hall, the Biotechnology Resource Center in the Biotechnology Building, farms in the Penn Yan area, the International Food Network near the Tompkins County Regional Airport, the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva and even Iron Kettle Farm in Candor, to learn about farming practices.

The Indian students listen to the same lectures as the Cornell students, only some days later on video. "In the view to internationalize the curriculum in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and prepare students to work in the global economy, this 30-year-old course is unique in the college in its approach and lasting effect," said K.V. Raman, associate director of International Programs in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, who teaches the course with Ronnie Coffman, director of International Programs. "For most of the course's history, a single group of students would learn about and travel to Central or South America. In recent years, with external funding, students now break into two groups: One travels to India and the other to Mexico. In addition, the Cornell students now travel in country with student counterparts from those countries."

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