ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, in association with Indian Society of Dryland Agriculture,Hyderabad and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi, organized the inaugural function of the three days Workshop on National Innovations on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA)-Technology Demonstration Component (TDC) Review and Future Roadmap on 30th October 2025 at ICAR-CRIDA.The workshop is organizing from 30 October to 01 November, 2025.
More than 350 delegates including Directors from ATARIs and ICAR institutes at Hyderabad, Nodal Scientists, ZMC Members, Scientists from ICAR institutes and KVKs, Research Associates, Young Professionals and students from different ICAR Research Institutes from all over India participated in the inaugural function.
Dr. R. S. Paroda, Chairman TASS and former Secretary, DARE and former DG, ICAR, New Delhi was the Chief Guest of the inaugural session of the workshop. The other dignitaries for the inaugural program are Dr. A.K. Nayak, Deputy Director General (Natural Resource Management), ICAR, Dr. Rajbir Singh, Deputy Director General (Agricultural Extension), ICAR and Dr. AK singh, Former DDG(NRM),ICAR . The event was initiated by lighting the lamp by the dignitaries as a symbol of bestowing knowledge eternally.
NICRA, a flagship initiative of ICAR, has been instrumental in developing and demonstrating climate-smart technologies across the country.
Dr V. K. Singh, Director ICAR-CRIDA welcomed the delegates and dignitaries and apprised the gathering about the importance of rainfed agriculture to the Indian economy and also informed that the main reason for organizing this workshop .He informed that the TDC-NICRA, implemented through 151 KVKs in climate vulnerable districts across 33 states, has significantly enhanced the adaptive capacity of farmers through location-specific interventions. In his address told that this workshop is to consolidate these learnings from past years and to refine strategies for the next phase. In his presentation briefly presented the achievements of NICRA-TDC.
Dr. AK singh, Former DDG(NRM),ICAR explained about how the NICRA programme started for taking the developed technologies to the farmers. He appreciated the efforts of setup Seed banks, fodder banks, Custom Hiring Centers(CHC) in the NICRA villages and suggested to upscale them. In his address he mentioned that extreme weather events days are increasing year by year and emphasized to handle the events.
Dr.AK.Nayak DDG(NRM),ICAR in his address congratulated stake holders for the success of NICRA-TDC component . He emphasized to review and make Future Roadmap to strengthen the NICRA programme. He asked to consolidate the learnings from past years and to refine strategies for the next phase of NICRA. He urged to take evidence based observations, Success stories data and document and make action plan for making future roadmap of the NICRA and link to Pradhan Mantri Dhan Dhaanya Krishi Yojana (PDKMY).
Dr.Rajbir Singh, DDG(Extension) appreciated the interventions of the KVKs in the NICRA villages. In his address he said that NICRA village has value in the country. During his address he has given success stories of NICRA-TDC villages and argued to develop roadmap to enhance more visibility of NICRA.
Dr. R. S. Paroda , Chief Guest of the programme appreciated the good work done in NICRA-TDC. He stressed the need for incorporating the promising technologies in the action plans of the districts for integrating in to the developmental programs. He argued to develop a holistic approach, for minimizing the impact of climate change and handling extreme weather events. He also so suggested to develop good land use planning maps which will be useful for policy makers. He suggested to strengthen weather advisory system and contingency plans.
A special brainstorming session on ‘Leveraging NICRA Initiative for Pradhan Mantri Dhan Dhaanya Krishi Yojana (PMDDKY) was held after Inaugural session. In this session presentations and discussions made on following themes which helped to know about NICRA initiatives tailored well to PMDDKY
During the inauguration program publications related to NICRA-TDC were released The three days deliberations and recommendations in the three days of the workshop would guide the stakeholders in formulating strategies for shaping the future direction of this important national initiative.
