Fulbright scholar Dr. M. Saidur Rahman recently visited Fort Valley State University’s campus to give a lecture on Bangladesh’s agricultural practices and to learn about FVSU’s research and outreach services.
FVSU and the University of Georgia hosted Rahman at both campuses through the Fulbright Scholar Program’s Outreach Lecturing Fund (OLF). OLF enables visiting scholars to share their research interests, speak about their home country and exchange ideas with U.S. students, faculty and community organizations.
In his lecture, “Development of Agricultural Education, Research and Extension in the Agricultural Universities in Bangladesh: How Far We’ve Come and How Far We’ve Yet to Go,” faculty and students with FVSU’s College of Agriculture, Family Sciences and Technology learned about Bangladesh’s progression in agricultural education and the need to expand their research facilities and collaborative efforts.
The professor and former head of agricultural economics at Bangladesh Agricultural University said land-grant universities like FVSU and UGA have their own Extension system to serve communities. He said the Bangladesh government oversees outreach programs, and as the growth rate increases, their priority is to make sustainable food production.
Rahman looks forward to potentially collaborating with FVSU on future research projects and plans to take back some Extension practices that could help build a better connection with farmers in his country.
In addition, Dr. Bipul Biswas, FVSU assistant professor of plant science, said Rahman’s visit allowed students to see that the opportunities in agriculture are worldwide.
For more information about Fulbright lectures at FVSU, contact Biswas at (478) 825-6827 or biswasb@fvsu.edu.