Netherlands Delegation Visits PAU To Explore Collaborative Areas

Ludhiana, October 15, 2015: A two-member delegation of PUM Netherlands Senior Experts visited the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) today to explore the possibilities of collaboration between the two organizations. The delegation interacted with Dr Baldev Singh Dhillon, Vice-Chancellor, PAU; Dr Balwinder Singh, Director of Research; Dr T.S. Thind, Professor Emeritus; and heads and faculty of various departments of the University. The delegation comprised Mr Jacques Eijkens, Country Coordinator India and Mr K.R. Jain, Representative of India.

Dr Dhillon said this mutual cooperation can go a long way in addressing the issues of food and nutrition through collaborative research. He expressed that collaborative research was vital for the exposure of scientists.

Dr Balwinder Singh said the two organizations can work in partnership in the areas of floriculture, food processing, net-house cultivation, mushroom cultivation, water management, and farm power and machinery.

Mr Jain said, “PAU and PUM are closely associated with each other.” PUM Netherlands Senior Experts is financially assisted by The Netherlands Government, he told. The Government of India and The Netherlands Government have signed a pact for setting-up of 10 Centres of Excellence in various areas of agriculture and PUM experts are involved in it, he informed. Two Centres of Excellence for Potato and Floriculture are being established in Punjab in cooperation with the Government of India, Punjab Government and The Netherlands Government, he said. “Since Punjab Government has also planned to set-up a Centre of Excellence for Mushrooms and PAU has been entrusted the responsibility for the same, PUM can be of immense help to the University in this direction,” he said.

Mr Eijkens said the major aim of PUM is to form clusters of companies and exhort them to think more innovatively and for the betterment of agriculture.