New Indian Partner of Astrakhan State University

ASU signed a cooperation agreement with Anand Agricultural University. The Indian university both carries out academic activities and makes different products using high technology and involving its students to this process, thus ensuring traineeship programmes.

Anand Agricultural University was established in 2004. One of its main missions is to support farmer activities in three aspects — education, research and dissemination of knowledge.

Partnership with ASU seems to be promising for the Indian university. Our institutions have much in common, since the Faculty of Agribusiness, Technologies & Veterinary Medicine of Astrakhan State University implements several research projects and is ready to share experience; besides, many other research products of our university may also be interesting for our Indian colleagues. Konstantin Markelov, the ASU Acting Rector, told our partners about these prospects of cooperation and, in his turn, got to know about the main areas of activities of Anand Agricultural University.

The guest visited a dairy plant, the production of which is as good as Russian milk products, or even better by some parameters.

The university possesses 900 hectares of land plots, where they grow cereals, fruit and vegetables using experimental technologies. The university researchers and students conduct activities on creation and introduction of eco-friendly methods for selection, fertilization and protection of plants.

Interestingly, each student of Anand University undertakes a traineeship at their home plant in the final year of their studies, which gives them great advantages at the start of their career. The issue of employment and gaining practical experience is one of the main topics for Astrakhan State University as well, so here the two institutions also found common ground and scope for joint ideas.