The Hindu Business Line : FAO inks pact with AP varsity for water project

THE Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations and the Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU) here signed an agreement for operating the Andhra Pradesh Water Management Project for five years up to 2008 under an existing memorandum of understanding between The Netherlands Government and FAO.

The agreement, signed on August 13, envisages improvement of water management in agriculture with a budget of Rs 21.83 crore at Bapatla in the Krishna delta, Bhimavaram in the Godavari delta, Jagitial under Sriramsagar Project, Garikapadu under the Nagarjunasagar Left Canal and some areas under tank irrigation in Chittoor district.

According to the ANGRAU Director of Research, Dr A. Padma Raju, this is the first time that a project proposal prepared by the university scientists with a need based approach has been approved by the FAO.

Apart from working in farmers fields for demonstration of packages for improving the water use efficiency in agriculture, the human and institutional resources development and capacity building of the stakeholders in agricultural water management will be taken up under the pilot project.

Dr Raju told newspersons on Monday that, as per the agreement, ANGRAU would have a technical collaboration with Alterra - ILRI (International Institute for Land Reclamation and Improvement) of Wagnenigen Agricultural University in The Netherlands.

The Netherlands Government initially sanctioned the project for a two-year period from November 2003. With Saturday's agreement, the time period had been extended up to 2008.

ANGRAU Registrar, Dr. S. Raghuvardhan Reddy, said that four more project proposals pertaining to agro meteorology, land use planning, water management and socio-economic study of agricultural operations.

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