 Uttar Pradesh Agricultural University students take a soil sample. The University was the first of several higher educational institutions in India based on the American land grant college concept. |
The government of India and the Rockefeller Foundation signed an agreement in 1956 that created the Indian Agricultural Program (IAP). The IAP's purpose was to increase cereal crop production through development of high-yielding seed and to strengthen graduate education in agriculture. The Indian government provided land, facilities, and local staff salaries, while the RF provided science specialists, equipment, and field program expenses. The Foundation also made grants to agricultural institutions and to Indian scientists to pursue research in the United States. Two years after entering India, the RF funded a post-graduate school at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in New Delhi.