College of Agriculture to host University of Duhok delegates; campus invited to opening session

Beginning Monday (Aug. 15), the College of Agriculture will host a delegation of Iraqi faculty from the University of Duhok (UoD). The campus community is invited to welcome the delegates during an opening session at 10:30 a.m. Monday in Pfendler Hall, Room 241. The session will center on the support of traditional agriculture and cultural practices in Northern Iraq.

The delegates are visiting to connect and collaborate over the LASER PULSE project "Support to Traditional Cultural Practices in Northern Iraq." The purpose of this project is to identify and re-establish the agricultural-based cultural practices of major minority groups in Northern Iraq that were affected by ISIS. The visiting faculty, including the UoD president, will be on campus for two weeks to learn about techniques and methods used to engage with the public and students in agriculture.

"Purdue University, Indiana University and University of Notre Dame are proud to continue our partnership with the University of Duhok,” says Amanda Dickson, international Extension specialist. “Our shared mission is to strengthen the institutional capacity of the University of Duhok to administer and support high-quality, sustainable research, teaching and extension programs that support the technical transfer and skill-building for local farmers on how to assess markets, diversify production and increase profits.”

This collaboration is made possible through support from the Innovation, Technology, and Research Hub of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and through the LASER PULSE program led by Purdue.

For more information, visit the Office of International Programs in Agriculture (IPIA) website.