India's agriculture representatives visited the colorful greenhouses on their tour of the Barber’s farm in upstate New York. Pictured from l to r: Nitin Srivastava, Cindy Barber, Surabhi Mittal, Tom Della Rocco, Shuchi Mathur, James Barber and Hema Yadav.
New York Farm Service Agency representatives, aiming to improve international relationships, participated in a program designed to develop new markets, promote food security and enhance marketing potential.
FSA State Executive Director James Barber and County Executive Director Thomas Della Rocco took part in the International Visitor Leadership Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, where they hosted four leaders of India’s agricultural sector.
“This was a great opportunity to establish and grow a mutually beneficial, cross-cultural relationship with our peers in India,” said Barber. “The experience brought to light some intriguing differences in agricultural practice and philosophy. Awareness of these differences will help foster future development of agricultural exchange between our countries.”
The visitors toured farms, including an orchard that began marketing directly to consumers and has diversified crops; a vineyard that grows grape varieties that adapt to colder climates and are marketed directly from the farm. The last visit was to the Barber family farm, a 154-year-old vegetable, small fruit and greenhouse enterprise. The guests were most impressed with the raised bed equipment that puts down plastic mulch and fertilizes in one pass.
A roundtable discussion was held on U.S. policies and farm programs followed by a visit to the Albany FSA County Office for a preview of the Geographic Inventory System.
“The group was most impressed with the level of detail that our farm database contains and the quality of the color photography that is in place here,” said Barber. Although they use ARCGIS software with satellite photography in India, they do not have the farm and tract detailed information that FSA has developed over the years.
“The overall visit provided one more way for the staff of the Farm Service Agency to serve American agriculture and assist our neighbors around the world,” said Barber.
