7/1/98

Contacts:
Ramesh Kanwar, Experiment Station, (515) 294-4913
Brian Meyer, Agriculture Information, (515) 294-0706

ISU TO HOST SUSTAINABLE AG PROGRAM IN JULY FOR WORLD BANK

AMES -- Twenty World Bank officials will visit Iowa in July to learn how environmental concerns are addressed in a highly productive agricultural state.

Iowa State University's College of Agriculture is coordinating the five-day workshop, July 5-10. The participants, who are based in Italy, India, Germany, Lebanon and Washington DC, oversee the World Bank's agricultural development programs around the world.

"The World Bank is looking to Iowa as a case study in sustainable agriculture," said Ramesh Kanwar, assistant director of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station. "They hope to take what they learn about balancing intensive agriculture and environmental concerns to their programs in developing countries. They want farmers in those countries to know that agriculture can be both productive and protective of the environment."

Kanwar said Iowa is a good model. "In a relatively short time, about 200 years, Iowa has become one of the world's most productive agricultural systems," he said. "Along the way, we've had to address issues of sustainability in areas that include soil conservation, water quality and today's livestock odor and waste management."

The workshop will feature presenters from ISU, the University of Iowa, the University of Nebraska, the USDA and 10 Iowa companies and organizations. The Work Bank officials also will meet with crop and livestock producers. They will tour farms, agribusinesses and research sites near Ames, Boone, Story City, Des Moines, Iowa Falls, Fairfield, Pella and Bloomfield.

On Monday, July 6, one of the workshop's participants, Ashok Seth, the World Bank's principal agriculturist for the South Asia region, will talk about a new agricultural development project in India. He will speak at 7:30 p.m. in the Holiday Inn Gateway Center in Ames. The presentation is open to the public.

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