NEW DELHI, Jan 23: The Government’s flagship climate resilience programme for agriculture has reached a “critical juncture” requiring clear strategic direction and long-term vision, ICAR Director General M L Jat said today.
Jat was speaking at the inauguration of a review workshop on the National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) programme, which has completed 15 years of implementation across the country.
On the occasion, he launched the Atlas of Climate Adaptation in Indian Agriculture (ACASA-India), a web-enabled digital platform to support location-specific, data-driven adaptation planning for farmers.
“NICRA stands at a critical juncture requiring clear strategic direction and a long-term vision,” Jat, who is also Secretary of the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), said at the workshop jointly organised by ICAR and the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA).
Despite recurring climatic stresses, Indian agriculture, particularly in rainfed regions, has demonstrated notable resilience and productivity gains, underscoring the effectiveness of climate-resilient technologies, enabling policies and institutional convergence, he said.
Jat emphasised that India’s climate resilience is built on an integrated ecosystem of science, policy support, technological innovation, safety nets, human capital and coordinated implementation.
Initiatives such as NICRA, the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, and livestock and fisheries missions have collectively enhanced adaptive capacity and farmer livelihoods, he said.
The DG called for deeper synthesis of data, learnings and investments into a unified national climate action platform, supported by a whole-of-government approach and a centralised data ecosystem.
India’s experience presents a strong global narrative on science-led, policy-aligned solutions for securing agri-food systems under climate stress, positioning NICRA as a potential global model for climate-resilient agriculture, Jat said.
The ACASA-India platform has been developed by ICAR-led National Agricultural Research and Extension System (NARES) in collaboration with BISA-CIMMYT.
ICAR Deputy Director General (Agricultural Extension) Rajbir Singh emphasised the need to prioritise robust and credible carbon credit methodologies as a key focus area for future climate action and investment.
The workshop reviewed progress of NICRA, which is being implemented across more than 200 locations in 151 highly climate-vulnerable districts across the country.
Strengthening NICRA’s contributions to climate-resilient agriculture is critical to India’s journey towards Viksit Bharat by 2047, participants noted.
Among other dignitaries present were A K Nayak, Deputy Director General (Natural Resource Management), ICAR; B Venkateshwarlu, Chairman, NICRA Expert Committee; V K Singh, Director, ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad; and P K Aggarwal, Regional Program Leader, BISA-CIMMYT. (PTI)
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