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| SU delegation meets with officials of the Heilongjiang Agricultural Committee in Harbin |
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| Ornamental model greenhouse in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Province |
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| Edible mushroom growing on sugarcane waste product in Nanning |
Five
members of the Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center
and Southern University and A&M College have returned to Baton Rouge after
taking part in the US-China Scientific Cooperation Exchange Program (SCEP). The
visit which took place from October 17-30, 2014 was part of the United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA)/Foreign Agricultural Service’s exchange with
the People’s Republic of China.
The objective of SCEP is to
promote bilateral scientific exchange in
the areas of agricultural cooperation, development,
and trade between the United States and China.
During the visit, the group met with the Chinese staff of the National
Agro-Tech Extension and Service Center, the College of Economics and Management
at the China Agricultural University, the Division of Market Information at the
Agricultural Committee of Heilongjiang and Guangxi Provincial Department of
Agriculture as well as visiting extension agencies, manufacturers of value-added
products, grains and poultry farms.
Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) of the
People’s Republic of China (PRC) arranged everything as soon as the SU
delegation arrived in Beijing. The
agenda was full of meetings and activities related to Agriculture, world supply
and demand estimates.
The visit proved to be quite fruitful and the team
is confident that the goals of the program were not only met,
but exceeded. The meetings with the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture
and other agriculture-related entities revealed numerous potential areas
for successful collaboration.
The meeting at the Silk Science Research Institute
and the tour of the facilities was one of the most impressive! The
information presented demonstrated areas of mutual collaboration that could
potentially utilize the expertise of the majority of the faculty at
the SU Ag Center and Southern University's Agricultural, Family and Consumer
Sciences. Specific areas included (1) planting, breeding and research on
the various species of mulberry trees (which silk worms only feed on); (2) growth
and development of the silk worms; (3) production of the silk
fabric; (4) investigating additional textile applications for the silk;
(5) investigating new food and beverage products from the
mulberry fruit (jams, juices, wines, etc.); (6) fertilizer
production; (7) research on pharmaceuticals products from the mulberry trees;
and (8) marketing all of these products in Louisiana and the U.S.
From the meeting with faculty members at the
College of Economics and Management at the China Agricultural University, it is
evident that there are opportunities for joint research and publications in
areas such as food production and security; food consumption and
safety; public goods and rural development; climate change,
biotechnology and agriculture, among others. The faculty members
with whom the team met were quite impressed by the way teaching, research and
extension in the Southern University System and in the USA work so
well together. In addition, they were amazed with the USDA programs to
assist U.S. farmers and rural families. The SCEP visit will provide
opportunities for future faculty and student exchanges between the Southern
University System and China.
“At one of the meetings in Guangxi
Province in Nanning Department of Agriculture, the deputy director informed us
that we were the first academic and agricultural group from the United States
to visit their facilities. As a result the doors for collaboration opened and
seven faculty members present were extremely excited about what we can offer
from the Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center and
also what we could benefit from the mutual collaboration,” said Fatemeh Malekian,
Professor of Food Science/Nutrition, SU Ag Center and Program Team
Leader.
The China delegation consisted of: Professor of Food Science and
Nutrition, Fatemeh Malekian; Coordinator for Planning and Evaluation, Oscar
Udoh, Ph.D.; Professor of Animal Science, Sebhatu Gebrelul, Ph.D.; Associate
Dean, College of Sciences and Agriculture, Doze Y. Butler, Ph.D., MBA, and Professor
of Apparel Merchandising and Textiles, Southern University and A&M College;
and
Communications Specialist, Bridget Udoh, Ph.D.
For additional information,
contact Fatemeh Malekian at 225.771.2242.
###
Contact:
Bridget
Udoh
(225)
771-5714
bridget_udoh@suagcenter.com
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