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Report UF/IFAS-India Collaborative Activities - Trip to Hyderabad, India Sabine Grunwald, K. Ramesh Reddy, and Wendy Graham 1. Introduction

This report summarizes the activities and experiences of a UF team that visited the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in Hyderabad, India from July 29 to Aug. 11, 2006. The UF delegation included - K. Ramesh Reddy, Chair of the Soil and Water Science (SWS) Department; Sabine Grunwald, Associate Professor and Distance Education Coordinator (SWS Department). They were joined by Wendy Graham, Director of the UF Water Institute on Aug. 5, 2006.

The purpose of the trip was to (i) learn first-hand about land and water resource issues in rural and rapidly developing urban areas in south-central India; (ii) provide training on geospatial modeling techniques applied to land resource applications; (iii) stimulate collaboration on joint educational and research activities related to soil and water science; and (iv) develop sustainable joint programs focused on individual and institutional capacity building that utilize e-technologies and online learning tools/methods. Left photo: Hyderabad City (~ 7 million); right photo: Hyderabad city (old city) - view from Charminar "Four Tours".

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Photo: left to right - Grunwald, Reddy and Graham at the Patancheru campus ICRISAT, India standing in front of Ashoka's wheel of life. Ashoka (273 BC to 232 BC) became one of India's greatest rulers, extending the Mauryan Empire to reign over most of South Asia and beyond. But after his bloody conquest of Kalinga, Ashoka gave up violence and became a great patron of Buddhism. Realizing the brutality of conquests led him to change his life from a cruel conqueror (Ashoka means "without sorrow" in Sanskrit) to the "pious Ashoka" promoting ethic codes, respecting other's religions, avoid killing and giving liberally to charity. The Ashoka Chakra is an ancient Indian depiction of the Dharmachakra, the Wheel of Life and Cosmic Order (Sanskrit: Chakra means wheel; Dharma means cosmic order). The wheel has 24 spokes, each of which signifies a spiritual principle. The wheel is placed on India's flag denoting motion - life in movement or peaceful change.

Fig. 1. Map of India with major cities and Krishna Basin.

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2. Rationale and Significance

The semi-arid tropics in India are characterized by highly variable and low rainfall, low productivity soils and poor development infrastructure. It is these factors along with soil degradation that are largely responsible for poverty in the rainfed areas of the semi-arid tropics. Watershed management is increasingly being recognized as the ideal approach for integrated natural resources management in rainfed areas. About 51% of India's geographic area (329 million ha) is categorized as degraded, most of which occurs in rainfed agro-ecosystem. About 70% of India's population is dependent on agriculture, and two third of the cropped area is dependent on rainfall without any irrigation systems.

The need to strengthen collaboration between scientists of the US and India is essential to solve problems of increasing population, limited water resources, land and water degradation, and food security in India. The accelerated population growth in India with a total population estimated at 1.1 billion and population density of about 328.6 per sq. km (World Bank, 2004 - India data profile) has caused widespread environmental problems, degradation of land and water resources, decline in health and poverty. Land use change practices resulting from economic and population pressures directly influences the quantity and quality of water resources. In addition, the quality and security of land and water resources are also threatened by extreme events such as monsoons, flooding, hurricanes and droughts, and more recently by bioterrorism. New technologies, both in the technical and educational arenas, can contribute significantly to building long-term capacity to address these issues. Modern information technologies in water management, including geographical information systems (GIS), remote sensing, and internet-based education tools provide new efficient and effective approaches for assessment of land use management, water resources and quality (e.g. drought prediction, water use for irrigation, erosion, water contamination, and related water management activities). Goal is to share expertise of UF/IFAS faculty and scientists on land and water resource management, GIS, remote sensing, ecological and water quality simulation modeling as well as distance education and e-learning with Indian partners to address global land and water resource problems. A partnership between UF/IFAS, international research organizations (a.o. Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research - CGIAR centers) and Indian academic institutions will facilitate to globalize existing UF/IFAS teaching and research programs.

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3. UF-Indian Partner Institutions

The UF team visited multiple Indian partner institutions including ICRISAT, the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), the Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), and Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU) in Hyderabad, India. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been signed between UF/IFAS and ICRISAT/ANGRAU. This MoU is intended to facilitate the collaboration of both organizations in agricultural and environmental related development, research, training and management activities. One of the objective of this MoU is to develop joint proposals for possible funding to support research, teaching, and extension activities. The UF has been successful in obtaining two grants as a part of US-India Agriculture Knowledge Initiative Program to support research and graduate education, and develop tools using e-technologies for capacity building. 3.1. International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in Hyderabad, India http://www.icrisat.org/

ICRISAT is a nonprofit, non-political organization that does innovative agricultural research and capacity building for sustainable development with a wide array of partners across the globe. ICRISAT's mission is to help empower 600 million poor people to overcome hunger, poverty and a degraded environment in the dry tropics through better agriculture. ICRISAT has its programs and laboratories spread in seven countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia with its headquarter in Hyderabad, India. Its programs under the Global Research Theme on Agro-Diversity include comprehensive research and capacity strengthening programs in soil and water management. These are carried out both directly and through consortia of partners in six countries in Asia, including China and India, while the Desert Margins Program of ICRISAT works with nine governments in Sub-Saharan Africa. This CGIAR center focuses on four global research themes: (i) Markets, policy and impacts; (ii) Harnessing biotechnology for the poor; (iii) Crop improvement, management and utilization for food security and health; and (iv) Agroecosystems. ICRISAT has hosted 556 graduate students from various universities in India, who completed their advanced masters or doctoral degrees using the facilities and guidance provided by ICRISAT scientists. ICRISAT has a Learning Systems Unit under its Knowledge Management (KM) and Sharing Group, which has established a technology-mediated open and distance learning project forming a learning grid of partners (incl. UF, Commonwealth of Learning, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), and Sun Microsystems).

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Contacts: Dr. Venkataraman Balaji <v.balaji@cgiar.org> Head of Knowledge Management and Sharing, ICRISAT Patancheru AP 502324 India Phone: +91 40 30713071 (board); +91 40 30713205 (direct); +919849592205 (mobile) Skype: vbalaji15. Dr. William Dar <w.dar@cgiar.org> Director General, ICRISAT Patancheru AP 502324 India Phone: +91 40 30713222 (O); +91 98490 01007 (mobile). Dr. Dyno Keatinge <d.keatinge@cgiar.org> Deputy Director General - Research Patancheru AP 502324 India Phone: +91 40 30713673 (R). Dr. Suhas P. Wani <s.wani@cgiar.org> Principal Scientist (Watersheds) and Regional Theme Coordinator Patancheru AP 50232 India Phone: +91 40 27111263 (R); +91 40 30713071 ext. 2466 (O).

3.2. International Water Management Institute (IWMI) in Hyderabad, India [headquarter in Colombo, Sri Lanka] http://www.iwmi.org

IWMI is a non-profit scientific organization funded by the CGIAR and its research agenda is organized around five priority themes covering key issues relating to land, water, livelihoods, health and environment. The institute concentrates on water and related land management challenges faced by poor rural communities. IWMI works through collaborative research with partners in the North and South, to develop tools and practices to help developing countries eradicate poverty and better manage their water and land resources. IWMI's research is supported by remote sensing and GIS applications focused on multiple benchmark basins that serve as field laboratories. Each benchmark basin serves the dual role of research and capacity building with local partners. Partners come together to study the benchmark basin's hydrology, its institutional arrangements for managing water and land, socio-economic conditions, and health and environmental factors. This data is collected and analyzed to present a dynamic portrait of the basin's natural resources management profile, as it evolves. Current benchmark

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basins include the Ruhuna (Sri Lanka), Rechna Doab Basin and Indus River Sub-Basin (Pakistan), and the Olifants River Basin (South Africa).

Contacts: Dr. Madar Samad <m.samad@cgiar.org> Head, Hyderabad Office, IWMI ICRISAT Campus Patancheru, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. Phone: 91-40-30713071; Mobile: 00-91-9866071642 Dr. Frank Rijsberman <f.rijsberman@cgiar.org> Director General, IWMI, Colombo, Sri Lanka

3.3. Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA) in Hyderabad, India http://www.crida.ernet.in

The mandate of CRIDA is to conduct problem-oriented interdisciplinary research, mostly in participatory mode focused to: (i) Undertake basic and applied research that will contribute to the development of strategies for sustainable farming systems in rainfed areas; (ii) Act as a repository of information on rainfed agriculture in India; (iii) Provide leadership and co-ordinate network research with state agricultural universities for generating location-specific technologies for rainfed areas; (iv) Act as a center for training in research methodologies in rainfed-farming systems; and (v) Collaborate with relevant national and international agencies in achieving the above objectives. CRIDA offers facilities for research in agronomy, plant breeding, soil physics, soil chemistry, microbiology, molecular biology, animal science, hydrology, plant physiology, agroforestry, horticulture, and plant protection. Outstanding research achievements include the development of a national Agromet Databank at CRIDA, an Integrated National Agricultural Resources Information System (INARIS) [e.g. spatial distribution maps for India on aridity, humidity, moisture indices, drought indices, rainfall data, etc.]; assessment of effects of elevated CO2 on crops and microorganisms; integrated nutrient management; rainwater management; crops and cropping systems; socio-economic studies; and more.

Contacts: Dr. K.P.R. Vittal <pc-dryland@crida.ernet.in> Project Coordinator, CRIDA Santoshnagar, Hyderabad 500059, India Phone: +91-040-24530828; +91-040-27677322 (R).

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Dr. Y.S. Ramakrishna <ramakrishna.ys@crida.ernet.in> Director, CRIDA Phone: +91-040-24530177 (O); 24532262 (R). G. Ravindra Chary <rcgajjala@yahoo.com> or <rcgajjala@crida.ernet.in> Scientists - Land resource management / watershed project Phone: 09391043437 (mobile)

3.4. Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU) in Hyderabad, India http://www.angrau.net

ANGRAU is one of the earliest Indian State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) and was established in the year 1964 appointed by the Government of India to study the status and future of agricultural education in the country. ANGRAU mission is to secure the economic development and improvement of the status of the rural people in the state of Andhra Pradesh through education, research and extension programs. Research programs at ANGRAU are carried out to tackle location-specific problems of different agro-climatic zones of the state of Andhra Pradesh. Research is focused to improve and generate technologies for increasing production in agriculture, animal husbandry, home science and allied sectors. Main research areas comprise: (i) Crop improvement; (ii) Conventional breeding (cereals, pulses, oil seeds, commercial crops, horticulture); (iii) Pest and disease management; (iv) Rainfed agriculture; (v) Agroforestry; (vi) Horticulture; (vii) Natural Resource Management; (viii) Organic farming; (xi) Crop systems and diversification; farming systems; (x) Pesticide residues; (xi) Agricultural implements; and (xii) Post-harvest technology and value addition. ANGRAU has just created the Water Technology Center (WTC) at the Hyderabad campus on July 1st, 2006, with a goal to integrate teaching, research and extension work related to water resources across the university.

Contacts: Dr. B. Bhaskar Reddy <reddy_basi2003@yahoo.co.in> Director for International Programs, ANGRAU Hyderabad-500 030, Andhra Pradesh, India. Phone: 91-40-24017868 (O); 91-40-27425296 (R); 9948083853. Dr. S. Raghu Vardhan Reddy <angrau_vc@yahoo.com> Vice Chancellor, ANGRAU Rajendranagar, Hyderabad - 500 030 Phone: 91-40-24015035 (O); 91-40-27425305.

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Dr. M. Devender Reddy <metukudreddy@rediffmail.com> Principal Scientist (Agro) & Head WTC, ANGRAU Dr. D. Raji Reddy <drreddy001@yahoo.com> Principal Scientist (Agromet)

4. Short Course "Applications in Land Resource Management" in Hyderabad

A short course "Geographic Information Systems - Applications in Land Resource Management" (July 31 to Aug. 4, 2006) was taught by a UF faculty, Dr. Grunwald, at the Patancheru campus of ICRISAT in Hyderabad. Dr. Balaji's group at ICRISAT set-up a classroom laboratory to support this course, which provided training on the use of geospatial technologies and spatially explicit analyses related to land resource management. ICRISAT’s GIS technical team supported Dr. Grunwald. The course participants included 16 scientists from research centers of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, agricultural universities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Scientists, faculty, students and staff members from ANGRAU, IWMI, CRIDA, Central Institute of Fisheries and Education (Mumbai), Maharana Pratap Univ. of Agri. & Tech. (Rajasthan), Yashwantrao Chevan Maharashtra Open University (Maharashtra), and Swaminathan Research Foundation attended the course. The short course was financed by registration fees, in-house support (facilities; technical staff) by ICRISAT, and support by a travel grant for Dr. Grunwald awarded by International IFAS/UF Programs. The short course used spatial datasets from Florida and other U.S. States, India (a.o. Krishna Basin) and Africa to offer a global perspective on land resource applications. Analysis of feedback from the course participants revealed very high levels of satisfaction and there is demand for similar courses.

Photos: Short course on GIS - Applications in Land Resource Management, ICRISAT, Hyderabad, India.

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Photos (left): Certification ceremony - Dr. Grunwald, Dr. Dar, Dr. Reddy and Dr. Balaji (from left to right).

5. Seminars

Seminars were given by Drs. Reddy, Graham and Grunwald at ICRISAT and ANGRAU to share information about (i) ongoing research and teaching programs in the SWS Department, IFAS, state-wide research on soil and water quality (Reddy); (ii) the UF Water Institute (Graham); and (iii) Distance education programs; and research on geospatial modeling techniques/remote sensing related to land and water resource management (Grunwald).

6. Field Trips

The UF delegation made several field trips including Hyderabad city - Musi River; Kothapally Village, Adarsha Watershed in the Ranga Reddy District; and the Krishna Basin. These field trips afforded to learn about local problems related to land and water use management as well as study environmental impacts.

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Photos: Rice production (top and bottom left) and furrow irrigated crops (right).

6.1 Kothapally Village, Adarsha Watershed, Ranga Reddy District, Andra Pradesh, India

A visit to the Kothapally village (465 ha) which is located about 40 km from the ICRISAT campus, Patancheru (78°5' to 78°8'E and 17°20' to 17°24N) provided insight into a farmer-participatory integrated watershed management project led by Dr. Wani (ICRISAT). The project objectives were to enhance and sustain productivity in soils of medium to high water holding capacity with emphasis to reduce soil degradation. A new farmer participatory consortium model for efficient management of natural resources is promoted in this project, which is intended to be scaled up to larger regions in the future. The main characteristics of this participatory watershed model are:

• Farmers in the watershed area are collectively identified and prioritize problems for technical interventions.

• Participatory planning and implementation of watershed research and development involves all stakeholders.

• New science and technology tools such as remote sensing, geographic information systems, digital terrain modeling and crop simulation models are applied.

• A holistic system approach for watershed management for livelihood improvement is adopted.

• Capacity building of local farmers and non-governmental organizations is carried out to promote the effective dissemination of technologies.

• Empowerment of communities, individuals and the strengthening of village institutions is achieved through concerted efforts to foster sustainable development. .... and more.

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Photo: Kothapally Village - pond (tank) used for recharge and irrigation.

Photo: Kothapally Village - empowered women and participatory groups; e.g. vermicompost production for organic farming.

Photo: Nagarjuna Sagar dam, Krishna Basin.

6.2. Krishna Basin

One of IWMI's benchmark basins is the Krishna Basin (258,948 km2) in south-central India. A field trip to the Nagarjuna Sagar dam located within the Krishna Basin enabled the UF team to learn first-hand about irrigation practices, land resource management, and water management. The Nagarjuna Sagar reservoir is one of the largest manmade lakes in the world. The reservoir provides irrigation water via two canals - the left and right canals to the Nalgonda, Prakasam, Khamman and Guntur Districts. The right canal is 203 km long and irrigates 4,504 km2 of land; whereas the left canal is 295 km long and irrigates 4,168 km2 of land. Irrigation management in this region is mainly based on furrow irrigation.

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The Krishna Basin is relatively flat, except for the Western Ghats and some forested hills in the center and northeast. It lies mostly on granites and basalts with limited groundwater potential, with some deep alluvium in the delta with high groundwater potential. The basin’s climate is largely semi-arid exceptions are a narrow north-south strip along the Western Ghats that is humid, a dry-subhumid area in the Krishna Delta, and arid portions in the rain-shadow east of the Western Ghats. Annual rainfall averages ~800 mm but ranges from below 300 mm in the northwest, to ~1,000 mm in the delta, to a maximum of over 2,000 mm in the Western Ghats. About 90% of the rainfall is received during the monsoon months of May to October. Potential evapotranspiration varies spatially over the basin and is highest in the south and the east, while lowest records are registered in the northwest. Evapotranspiration exceeds precipitation in all but three months of the year during the peak of the monsoon (July, August, and September), which make necessary irrigation during the other periods of the year and notably in the east and the northwest of the basin. IWMI studies have shown that, at the basin scale, the Krishna is in danger of approaching closure. The basin-wide annual water balance has changed markedly over time: evapotranspiration increased by 20% and runoff decreased by 42% from 1901-1960 to 1965-1970, and by about 60% by 1990-2000 despite no statistically significant change in rainfall. The basin is home to approximately 74.2 million people. The population density is high with ~287 per sq. km² with concentration of the population in the irrigated areas and metropolitan urban centers (e.g. Hyderabad ~ 7 million people). About 68% of the population live in rural areas and are dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. Basin closure has also resulted in interstate conflict, as three states share the shrinking water resources. The downstream state, Andhra Pradesh, has experienced a state-wide decline in agriculture, while Karnataka and Maharashtra, which lie further upstream, have large dry regions and want to continue developing their water resources to maintain their agricultural growth and reduce poverty. The basin supports an irrigated area of approximately 63,865 km2 (25% of total area) split nearly equally between surface water and groundwater. Some 177,250 km2 (68% of total area) of the basin are mainly rainfed areas including some rangeland and wastelands. Nearly 15,000 km2 are under forest cover, shrublands and grasslands. Crops in the irrigated areas include rice, sugarcane, cotton, and vegetables, and supplemental irrigation of fruit, oilseeds, pulses, and sorghum. Irrigated areas range from less than a hectare in isolated groundwater plots to hundreds of square kilometers in the Krishna Delta. Major rainfed crops include rice, coarse grains, oilseeds, pulses, cotton, chillies and a variety of fruit and vegetables. Rapid urbanization in the basin also makes demands on water supplies. Hyderabad city, for example, now has 7 million people and consumes 380 million m3 of water annually. Much of the urban water supply returns to the local Musi River as wastewater and is used for irrigation, which has important consequences for human health, soil salinity and the environment.

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Fig. 2. Digital elevation model (DEM) and river network - Krishna Basin (data sources: Krishna Basin boundaries and river network: IWMI; DEM: GoSpatial.com).

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7. Follow-up Activities

Dr. William Dar, Director General of ICRISAT, is scheduled to visit the University of Florida in November 2006 to meet with the IFAS/UF administration and faculty to explore ways to further strengthen collaborative programs. Dr. V. Balaji, Head of Knowledge Management and Sharing, ICRISAT plans to visit the University of Florida in December 2006 to continue exchange of knowledge on e-technologies to support learning, distance education courses/programs, and Reusable Learning Objects.

8. U.S. - India Agricultural Knowledge Initiative (AKI)

The project "Information and Communication Technologies for Capacity Building in Water Management: U.S. India Collaborative Extension/Outreach and Distance Education" funded under the U.S. - India AKI program started September 2006 (PI: K. Ramesh Reddy; co-PIs: Sabine Grunwald and Lisette Staal; Indian collaborators: V. Balaji (ICRISAT); B. Bhaskar Reddy (ANGRAU); and B.S. Dhillon (Punjay Agricultural University - PAU)).

Project summary AKI - Capacity Building and Water Management: New technologies, both in the technical and educational arenas, can contribute

significantly to building long-term capacity helping to solve problems of increasing population, limited water resources, land and water degradation and food security in India. Modern information technologies in water management, including GIS, remote sensing, and internet-based education tools, provide new efficient and cost-effective approaches for the assessment of water resources and quality. The project addresses two key components of the US-India Agricultural Knowledge Initiative (AKI), Capacity Building and Water Management. The partners will develop skills and collaborative digital learning resources to strengthen education and technical training for extension and outreach to maximize the use of innovative tools focused on sustainable management of water resources. The specific objectives are: (1) identify needs in the use of GIS and remote sensing tools in water management, explore best practices in the use of innovative e-technologies to support extension, outreach, certificate and in-service training programs, (2) build individual and institutional capacity through faculty/scientists/extension specialists exchange and training programs among partner institutions and create development teams based on specific needs, and (3) provide local/regional relevant interdisciplinary reusable learning objects (RLOs) streamlined into a shared online library that is sustainable beyond the time-frame of this project to establish a long-term partnership. These objectives will be accomplished through specific tasks: (1) a workshop on innovative e-technologies and water management to be held in India, (2) dynamic team building, collaborative planning and

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communication, (3) joint reciprocal training in RLO development, and (4) integration of RLOs into various modes of learning activities in the US and India.

The project between the UF, Gainesville, Florida, ICRISAT, ANGRAU and PAU, will build on the established consortium among Indian agricultural universities and partners with its mission to form a long-term sustainable digital educational learning grid. This project will contribute to creation of critical human and material resources needed for the application of new methods and tools to address pressing issues in water management in India. The individual and institutional capacity building will occur at US and Indian academic institutions providing a platform for sustainable education, extension and outreach that will foster globalization, knowledge sharing and awareness building. We anticipate the following outcomes: (1) an Indian-US grid of agricultural and environmental educators contributing to and using interdisciplinary learning objects that will increase accessible educational resources, (2) the RLOs will enhance student’s scientific training and stimulate critical thinking skills to address complex problems at the agricultural-environmental interface, (3) a partnership of academic and research institutions that is linked by shared online instructional resources will provide the seed to grow into a global network that fosters agricultural and environmental education, and (4) the experiences shared in this project will leverage future large-scale joint grant activity. The project "Sustainable Water Resource Management: U.S - India Collaborative Research and Education" funded under the U.S. - India AKI program started September 2006 (PI: W. D. Graham; co-PIs: K. Ramesh Reddy, Ken Campbell, and Lisette Staal; Collaborators in the U.S: North Carolina A & T University, G.B. Reddy, Indian collaborators: Balaji (ICRISAT); M. Deveneder Reddy (ANGRAU); and B.S. Dhillon (Punjay Agricultural University - PAU). Project summary AKI - Sustainable Water Resource Management: U.S - India Collaborative Research and Education:

The overall goal of this project is to enhance water resource management in India through collaborative research and education activities between the University of Florida (UF) and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (NCA&T) in the US, and Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU) and Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) in India. Specific areas of water resource management that will be addressed include: (1) Sustainable Use of Water Resources, (2) Water Quality Management and Remediation, (3) Use of Simulation Models in Water Resource-Agricultural-Ecosystem Management, (4) Improved Water Use Efficiency and Drought Management. Project goals will be accomplished through the following activities:

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Joint workshops held at ANGRAU and PAU to identify and prioritize water resource research and education areas of common interest and concern,

Hosting of sabbaticals of Indian scientists at both UF and NCA&T to develop joint proposals to address the priority research and education areas,

Graduate Research Assistantships for 6 Indian students to obtain graduate degrees at UF and NCA&T in priority research and education areas under the joint supervision of UF and Indian Faculty members.

The proposed workshops, sabbaticals and graduate education activities are designed as tools to build long-term relationships and research programs between UF, NCA&T, ANGRAU, and PAU. The research programs will be sustained by the additional extramural funding obtained as a result of this project, as well as the professional relationships forged during the co-advising and mentoring of Indian graduate students.