The University of Debrecen can now expand its international relations with the State of Nebraska

Zoltán Bács, Rector of the University of Debrecen, and Endre Harsányi, Vice Rector for Sectoral Development, held talks with senior officials of the State of Nebraska, including Secretary of State Robert Barnett Evnen, Deputy Secretary of State Cindi Allen, and the State Secretary for Food Economy, Distribution and Education of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Economy in Hungary, László Búza. The focus of the agenda of their meeting was on further expanding our university's international network of relations and exploring new educational, research and innovation collaboration opportunities in the United States.

Both Hungary and the Midwestern US state of Nebraska face quite a number of rather similar challenges related to agriculture and climate change. Increasingly frequent droughts, extreme temperatures and growing uncertainty in precipitation distribution in both regions enhance the role and responsibilities of modern water management and sustainable agricultural solutions. The American and Hungarian experts participating in the meeting agreed that effective responses to these challenges would be best based on knowledge-based collaborations as well as research and technological innovations. 

- One of the top-priority topics during the visit of the American delegation to Hungary was the issue of agricultural knowledge transfer and the adaptation to climate change. In the light of our understanding of the talks with representatives of the State of Nebraska and Associate Professor of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Saleh Taghvaeian, the cooperation between our institutions could provide significant opportunities for joint research projects, student and faculty mobility programs, and the mutual sharing of knowledge accumulated in the fields of irrigation development, plant breeding, soil science and precision farming- said Vice Rector Endre Harsányi to hirek.unideb.hu.

In order to support the efforts aimed at strengthening this relationship, the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture and Food Economy is also taking an active part. The State of Nebraska and Hungary jointly plan to launch specific, practice-oriented cooperation projects in several strategic areas of agriculture, including precision farming, irrigation development, research into drought-tolerant plant varieties, soil health preservation and agricultural digitalization. These initiatives serve to strengthen research and innovation partnerships on the one hand, while they can also contribute to opening up new opportunities for Hungarian agricultural and food industry players in the Nebraska market on the other hand. 

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