New Dehi
(Press Information Bureau)

The India-US Agriculture Dialogue held its inaugural meeting on 13-14 September 2010 in New Delhi. Foreign Secretary and Mr. Robert Hormats, Under Secretary (Energy, Economic and Agricultural Affairs) in the US State Department co-chaired the Dialogue, on behalf of the Governments of India and USA respectively. Senior officials from the Ministries of Agriculture, Food-Processing Industries, Earth Sciences and other concerned Departments participated.

Under the Agriculture Dialogue the two governments have set-up three Working Groups for: Strategic Cooperation in Agriculture and Food Security, Food-Processing, Agriculture Extension, Farm-to-Market linkages, and Weather and Crop-forecasting respectively.

The Working Groups discussed proposals for cooperation and will finalize the specific initiatives and modalities for cooperation through mutual consultation.

The Agriculture Dialogue provides a platform for implementing the India-US Memorandum of Understanding for Cooperation in Agriculture and Food Security signed in March 2010, in pursuance of a decision taken during Hon’ble Prime Minister’s visit to USA in November 2009.