WSU News Archive

By Tom McArthur, International Programs

PULLMAN, Wash. - The Washington State University global campus adds a project in Asia this spring with a $1 million federal grant that will enable scientists in the United States and Indonesia to learn from one another.

 

The three-year USAID grant will engage a "smart” and strategic coalition of multidisciplinary scientists from WSU, Bogor Agricultural University (Institut Pertanian Bogor) and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia). At the center of their work: high value food crops in Indonesia and around the world.

 

WSU will contribute directly to the global agricultural value chain.

"We’re engaged on the global farm truck,” said Prema Arasu, project director on the grant and vice provost and associate vice president of WSU International Programs. "Bananas, potatoes and rice are crops that could come back to us.”

 

USAID is the U.S. Agency for International Development under the Department of State that provides economic, development and humanitarian assistance around the world in support of the foreign policy goals of the United States.

The grant also speaks directly to the WSU Strategic Plan (2008-2013, Goal #3) by increasing engagement of U.S. scientists in addressing global dimensions of agriculture and in sharing their scientific knowledge with those in other countries.
 
"In both the short and long term, the project will help WSU faculty and students understand Indonesian agriculture better and establish sustainable collaborations among scientists in both countries,” said Kulvinder Gill, professor in the WSU College of Agricultural, Human and Natural Resource Sciences and one of the investigators on the grant. "It will bring the world to our classrooms in order for our next-generation citizens to compete better in the international markets.”

 

"This environment will additionally contribute to U.S. biosecurity efforts and increase our knowledge on crop improvement methodologies and defenses against alien pests and diseases,” said Naidu Rayapati, co-investigator and associate professor and plant pathologist at WSU Prosser.
 
"This project opens the door for us in many ways,” said Arasu of the first major grant awarded to her new leadership team in the International Programs office. "I see building the WSU brand in Asia with recruiting and distance education opportunities. I see our students gaining global competencies for success in the workforce. 

 

"I see further research collaborations,” she continued. "I see technology transfer and private sector partnerships that link to companies in Washington. Many doors will open, as a result of this grant, to provide mutually beneficial opportunities for WSU and our partners in Indonesia.”

Ramon Zamora, a Ph.D. student in electrical engineering from Aceh Province, Indonesia, and advisor to PERMIAS, the Indonesian student organization at WSU, applauded the award: "This will further strengthen relationships between students and bring awareness of our culture to the entire WSU community.”

 

Also supporting the grant from WSU are:

 

The Republic of Indonesia is an archipelago of nearly 20,000 islands. It is the largest economy in Southeast Asia, home to the world’s largest Muslim population with 238 million people.

 

Indonesia was a Dutch colony for more than three centuries prior to World War II, was occupied by Japanese forces during the war and became an independent nation after the post-war Indonesian National Revolution. Indonesia declared its independence on Aug. 17, 1945 and celebrates this as its Independence Day.

Contact:
Tom McArthur, WSU Office of International Programs, mcarthur@wsu.edu

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