Five members relating to Kyushu University are awarded the "Medal of the Cause of Agriculture and Rural Development"

　Vietnam National University of Agriculture (VNUA, formerly Hanoi University of Agriculture (HUA) and Hanoi Agricultural University (HAU)) celebrated its 60th anniversary by inviting many VIPs including the Prime Minister of Vietnam on 10th December 2016. During that ceremony, five members of the Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, were recognized for their contribution to the development of VNUA and awarded "The Medal for the Cause of Agriculture and Rural Development" by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) in Vietnam.
　Kyushu University has been interacting with Vietnam for many years through enrolling Vietnamese students and conducting collaborative research projects, especially in the field of agriculture. The late Professor Dr. Luong Dinh Cua who is known as the father of Vietnamese agriculture was a student of Kyushu University.
　The Kyushu University Faculty of Agriculture has a long history of collaboration with VNUA. Since the first academic and student exchange agreement was concluded in 1993, there have been several collaboration projects including "The Education and Research Capability Building Project of Hanoi Agricultural University" (1988-2004, JICA Project), "Science of hybrid rice: breeding, cropping patterns and the environment" (2006-2008, JSPS Asia Africa Science Platform Program), "Project for the Development of Crop Genotypes for the Midlands and Mountain Areas of North Vietnam" (2010-2015, JST-JICA SATREPS). The five award winners were the core contributors from the faculty of Agriculture to those collaboration projects.
　Professor Dr. Kazuaki Hiramatsu, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture said "I feel this reflects the International strength of Kyushu University since 5 out of the 12 individuals who were awarded the "Medal for the Cause of Agriculture and Rural Development" are researchers at Kyushu University." Professor Dr. Kazuo Ogata, Senior Vice President also said "The seeds of international collaboration which were sown more than twenty years before have been growing and bearing fruit. Considering these achievements we want to deepen our international relationships in these fields"

 < "Medal for the Cause of Agriculture and Rural Development" winners>
Dr. Kenji Cho, Prof. Emeritus 
Dr. Kazuhiko Egashira, Prof. Emeritus
Dr. Kazuo Ogata, Prof., Institute of Tropical Agriculture
Dr. Atsushi Yoshimura, Prof., Faculty of Agriculture
Mr. Nobuyuki Iseri, Coordinator, SATREPS Project