Overview and Prospects of the USDA-COA Cooperative Program in Agricultural Sciences

Abstract

This report provides an overview of the background and history of the signing and implementation of the Guidelines for a Cooperative Program in the Agricultural Sciences between the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in the United States, signed in January 1986. AIT works in association with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in administering this cooperative program, while TECRO performs a similar function in affiliation with the Council of Agriculture (COA). Bilateral annual meetings were held to review the cooperative program and periodically, the main theme of the future cooperation and mutual beneficial priority areas were discussed. Modification and amendments to the program were then made on agreed issues. In 1997, a symposium was held in Taiwan to review the results and status of this program. Up to this year, a total of 99 cooperative research projects in the field of crops, animal husbandry, forestry, aquaculture, and biotechnology have been conducted. Except for a number of ongoing projects that usually cover a period of 3-4 years, most of the projects that have been duly completed received satisfactory remarks from peer reviews and were published. This report also attempts to highlight the research activities and achievements of the collaborative projects. While the importance of this cooperative program has long been recognized, additional priority areas were identified and proposed, especially in the context of biotechnology as a complementary input to future cooperative programs.