Agriculture employs more than two-thirds of India's workforce, including many of the country’s 300 million poor. The country’s underdeveloped value-added processing capabilities, reliance on grain crops, lack of well-structured supply chains and inefficient farming models prevent Indian agriculture from reaching its potential.

USAID’s University Partnerships for the Advancement of Agriculture addresses these problems by linking key Indian universities with some of the United States’ leading agriculture universities. The program allows for leading agri-business and production practices and technologies to be exchanged and adapted to India’s unique needs. The partnerships:

• Share methods for transforming raw food into quality, high-value commodities for export
• Establish a center for post-harvest biology and food quality that increases economic efficiency, raises productivity and reduces rural poverty
• Develop public-private linkages to boost productivity and exports for competition in global agriculture
• Create curricula that produce skilled, globally aware experts in agribusiness
• Improve the nutritional status of rural populations – especially among women and girls – through the introduction of genetically modified crops
• Introduce alternative, sustainable farming models that decrease the reliance on subsidized grain production
• Strengthen supply chain management for fruits and vegetables – allowing fresh, commercially attractive produce to reach a variety of markets.