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| Campus Chatter - July 6, 2011 |
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Afghanistan team wins Purdue Agriculture award
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A Purdue University team helping Afghanistan build its agricultural economy by rebuilding its agricultural universities has received the Purdue Agriculture 2011 Team Award.
The annual award, presented Wednesday, April 27, recognizes interdisciplinary team achievements of Purdue faculty and staff.
Purdue efforts in Afghanistan began in 2002. As the efforts grew, the team, composed of six members of five Purdue departments, formed to support Purdue’s work in improving the country’s capacity to develop its agricultural education.
In 2006, Purdue obtained $7 million in funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development to establish the Advancing Afghan Agriculture Alliance, known as A4, primarily in redeveloping colleges of agriculture in Kabul, Balkh, Herat and Nangarhar.
This month, Purdue received an award of $32 million from USAID for the Strengthening Afghan Agriculture Faculties program to establish a new consortium of universities to continue and expand the work initiated under A4.
Among its work, the team provides master’s-level education for Afghan junior faculty to help them develop teaching and research skills. Expanding Purdue’s engagement, the team now identifies faculty who travel to Afghanistan to conduct workshops on curriculum development and Extension methods at Afghan agricultural colleges and the Afghan Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock.
The team also supports applied education on Afghan agriculture for Indiana National Guard Agribusiness Development Team members deploying to Afghanistan. Team members also have introduced an undergraduate honors course that examines the interaction of cultural, economic, history, and domestic and regional politics development.
Purdue’s work is critical support for U.S. efforts to build a stable Afghanistan with functioning government institutions and a growing economy. The education capacity Purdue is building provides young Afghans with the technical and leadership skills to develop Afghanistan’s agricultural economy and supporting institutions.
More than 70 other faculty and staff in the College of Agriculture have been involved in the project. The team will receive $10,000 to invest in the project.
UK College of Ag awarded $6.9 million grant to study biofuels
LEXINGTON, Ky. — The University of Kentucky College of Agriculture has several research projects under way related to biofuels and reducing the United States’ dependence on imported oil. Recently the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Energy put more faith in the college by awarding a multi-year, $6.9 million grant to improve the economics for biorefineries by using on-farm processing to convert biomass to a mixture of butanol, ethanol, acetone and organic acids.
In a USDA news release, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the departments are sponsoring $42 million in research grants to eight recipients to spur innovation in bioenergy by developing renewable resources that produce energy more efficiently and in a sustainable way.
“Permanently reducing our dependence on foreign oil and getting a handle on out of control gas prices will require our brightest scientists, our smartest companies and strategic investments in research,” he said. “Advances made through this research will help boost rural economies by developing and testing new processing facilities and profitable, energy-rich crops that U.S. farmers and foresters will grow.”
Lead researcher for the UK project is Sue Nokes, a professor in the Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering. Nokes and others in her department will work with other UK departments and colleges, as well as other universities and industry partners to achieve their goals. The project will integrate input from experts in a variety of disciplines, including biosystems engineers, plant and soil scientists, horticulturists, chemical engineers and economists.
In the USDA news release, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said by developing and commercializing advanced biofuels, the United States can create new economic opportunities for rural communities, provide consumers with new options to fuel their vehicles and reduce dependence on imported oil.
“The projects selected … will help produce affordable, renewable biofuels right here in the U.S. to power our cars and trucks,” Chu said. |
| 7/6/2011 |
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