The XXXIV Research Advisory Committee (RAC) Meeting of ICAR-CRIDA was held during 28-29 May 2026 in hybrid mode at ICAR-CRIDA under the chairmanship of Dr Arvind Kumar Shukla, Hon’ble Vice Chancellor, RVSKVV, Gwalior. All the members of RAC, Dr Jagdish Rane, Director, ICAR-CIAH, Bikaner; Dr M.A. Shankar, Former Director of Research, UAS, Bengaluru; Dr C.R. Mehta, Director, ICAR-CIAE, Bhopal; Dr Yadvinder Singh, Former Head, Dept of Soils, PAU, Ludhiana; Dr Shalander Kumar, Deputy Global Research Program Director, ICRISAT; and Dr A. Velmurugan, ADG (S&WM) participated in the meeting.

Dr V.K. Singh, Director, ICAR-CRIDA welcomed the chair and members of RAC, and presented an overview of research outputs, new research initiatives and contributions of the institute to improvement of livelihoods of smallholders in dryland areas of the country. Dr K.A. Gopinath, Member Secretary presented the Action Taken Report (ATR) on the recommendations of the previous meeting of RAC (XXXIII) and the same was accepted by the Research Advisory Committee.

At the outset, the Chairman of RAC appreciated the contributions of ICAR-CRIDA, AICRPDA and AICRPAM. He highlighted that climate, weather and water are the major challenges in rainfed agriculture and need to be addressed through prioritized research program. He further stressed on the need to reduce the use of chemical inputs and also work for SEHAT (Science Excellence for Health through Agricultural Transformation), a landmark national initiative launched jointly by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Dr M.A. Shankar suggested to further strengthen the collaborative work between AICRPDA and AICRPAM to develop climate resilient technologies, agroforestry systems and natural resource management. Dr Shalander Kumar urged to

adopt landscape approach for development and upscaling of integrated farming systems in collaboration with ICAR-IIFSR, Modipuram. Dr C.R. Mehta emphasized on the need to improve resource use efficiency through engineering interventions. Dr Yadvinder Singh suggested to benefit:cost ratio of major technologies developed by the institute. Dr Jagdish Rane suggested to integration of crop improvement work with NRM program. Dr A. Velmurugan emphasized the need to create database of CRIDA, AICRPDA, AICRPAM and NICRA for generation of suitable AI/ML models. The RAC also visited both research farms of the Institute and interacted with the scientists.