Apart from launching a joint initiative in agriculture for an ?Evergreen Revolution? to promote food security around the world, India and the US also inked six other agreements including technical cooperation for study of dynamical seasonal prediction of monsoon rainfall.

?We are launching a new partnership for an Evergreen Revolution that improves food security around the world,? US President Barack Obama announced during a joint press conference with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at Hyderabad House in New Delhi at the end of delegation-level talks.

Prime Minister Singh said both the governments had reached an agreement for cooperation in weather and crop forecasting.

Obama said like the earlier collaboration between the two countries in agriculture, which ushered in the Green Revolution in India, he expected the new initiative to bring in an ?Evergreen Revolution? to enhance food security.

Both countries have agreed to cooperate on energy projects, including shale gas and clean energy. Addressing mediapersons, the two leaders said the two countries will set up a research and development centre for clean energy in India and will provide annual funding of $5 million each for five years, with matching investment from the private sector.

?We agreed to deepen our cooperation in pursuit of clean energy technologies, including the creation of a new clean energy research centre in India, and continue our joint research into solar, biofuels, shale gas and building efficiency,? Obama said.

The initial priority areas for the research centre would be solar energy, second-generation biofuels and building efficiency. The agreement initially runs for 10 years. India, which has one of the world?s lowest power consumption rates per capita, has set a power generation target of 62,000 megawatts by March 2012. It now has around 165 gigawatts of installed generation capacity.

Around two-thirds of the country?s electricity is generated from thermal power now, using coal, gas and liquid fuel.

India is looking at alternative sources of energy to plug gaps in its supply and demand for electricity. Nuclear and hydro electricity generation account for less than a quarter of India?s total output.