C.U. Creates Dual-Degree Program With Indian University

Starting this summer, Cornell and Tamil Nadu Agricultural University in India will offer a dual-degree program in food science and plant breeding. Relocated to Coimbatore in 1906, TNAU is a leading provider of agricultural technology in India with colleges studying agriculture, agricultural engineering and horticulture. This program will be the first agricultural life science degrees offered by any U.S. university specifically to students in India.
15 Indian students have been accepted to each of the two-year degree programs in food science and plant breeding. Studying seven months in Ithaca and five in India, students will work towards degrees including a Master of Professional Studies degree from Cornell and a Master of Technology degree from TNAU.
Prof. Syed Rizvi, food science, sees this program as mutually beneficial for American and Indian students.
“Indian agricultural production has done better than the processing sector, but processing is about to unleash and go through the roof, so there is a tremendous demand for trained individuals who can meet the demands of the food and agro-processing sector,” Rizvi told the University. “It will also be good for American students to learn how things are done in a rapidly developing country.”
During this past fall, TNAU professors collaborated with Cornell professors in Ithaca in order to create the details for the program. Although Cornell’s graduate school has approved the food science program, the decision is still pending on the plant breeding program, according the University.