The German Agribusiness Alliance (GAA) and Agriculture Skill Council of India (ASCI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in a meeting between the Agriculture Ministers from the two countries Mr Christian Schmidt from Germany and Mr Radha Mohan Singh from India, in order to cooperate with each other for the purpose of jointly developing the establishment of "Indo-German Centers of Excellence in Agriculture" aimed at creating a Platform for practical skill development in agriculture in India. The inclusion, participation and funding from the German private sector shall be coordinated by the German Agribusiness Alliance.

The centre of excellence will cover four major areas such crop production (including agricultural machinery/mechanization and postharvest handling) and marketing, horticulture crops management, production and value chain integration, cattle breeding / milk production, procurement and marketing and poultry/egg production.

Mr Joerg Rehbein, spokesman for the German Agribusiness Alliance said, "The prime objective of this collaboration would be to provide practical professional skill training as well as practical demonstrations of modern technologies and methods (capacity building) to various stakeholders of the agriculture development ecosystem." He further added, "With this initiative, we hope to raise awareness on emerging areas of agriculture technologies and their application, and to adopt best skill development practices and concepts from India and Germany."

Mr Sanjeev Asthana, chairman, ASCI said, "The proposed Indo-German Centers of Excellence in Agriculture shall provide both short and long-term practical, professional skill training on modern technologies and methods, and organize demonstrations of technological advancements. The activities would target to reach farmers as well as farm workers and wageworkers in agriculture related industries. In addition, the project shall be used to train trainers of certified private or state training providers and facilities. The Centers shall cover different areas of agriculture and shall be set up in co-operation with agriculture institutions".