Impactful Farmers’ Innovation: Insights and Pathways to Scale – A Successful Session at the International Agronomy Congress

26 November 2025, New Delhi

A dedicated session on “Impactful Farmers’ Innovation: Insights and Pathways to Scale” was held today during the International Agronomy Congress at the National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi. The session highlighted India’s growing landscape of grassroots innovations that address critical challenges in natural resource management, energy conservation, biodiversity preservation, and livestock management.

ICAR has been actively identifying and promoting such farmer-led innovations through research, extension, and policy integration. Recently, more than 300 innovations were documented under the Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan (VKSA), with efforts underway to mainstream them across agricultural systems.

Addressing the gathering, Dr. Rajbir Singh, Deputy Director General (Agricultural Extension) and Co-chair, highlighted recent achievements and ongoing efforts to connect grassroots innovations with Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs). He also encouraged exploring collaborations with established networks such as GIAN and the Honey Bee Network to further support farmer-led creativity.

The session opened with presentations by 12 grassroots innovators from different states, showcasing diverse developments in precision agriculture, energy efficiency, biodiversity conservation, and farm engineering. Their innovations demonstrated practical relevance and strong potential for scientific refinement and wider adoption. Two additional presentations by Dr. S. N. Meera, Director, ICAR–ATARI Hyderabad, and Dr. Manish Anand, TERI, outlined frameworks, processes, and examples for scaling up these innovations.

Co-chair Prof. Kadomot Siddique (Western Australia) shared insights on farmer group dynamics in Australia and their role in technology adoption.

Dr. Vimla Dunkwal, Vice-Chancellor, Kota Agricultural University, emphasized the interconnectedness of food, nutrition, health, and environmental management, calling for stronger integration of these themes in education and research.

Prof. Anil K. Gupta (IIM Ahmedabad) engaged with innovators and underlined the importance of system agronomy, noting the value of farmers’ creativity for scientific progress. He suggested engaging RAWE students with KVKs to develop village knowledge registers for meaningful documentation of local practices.

Chair of the session, Prof. Panjab Singh, Chancellor, RLBCAU Jhansi, stressed the need to identify the most promising grassroots innovations and scale them up through demonstrations and commercialization. He also emphasized strengthening KVK capacities to mainstream such innovations through inclusive models.

Key Recommendations from the Session:

• Establish a robust system to identify, document, validate, and promote grassroots innovations and traditional knowledge systems.
• Provide recognition and strategic support for low-cost, eco-friendly farmer-led innovations addressing local needs.
• Create dedicated open-source platforms for farmers to voluntarily share innovations for wider multi-stakeholder benefit.
• Engage UG, PG, and Ph.D. students, as well as early-career scientists, in research inspired by grassroots innovations to strengthen field linkages and build future expertise.
• Introduce targeted funding and incubation mechanisms to scale, refine, and disseminate promising innovations.
• Develop strategies for RAWE students to create village knowledge registers to map India’s rich knowledge base for research, enterprise development, and conservation of traditional knowledge.
• Formulate comprehensive frameworks to integrate validated farmer-led innovations into extension systems, agricultural policies, and institutional programmes.

The session witnessed enthusiastic participation from around 250 grassroots innovators, progressive farmers, scientists, and scholars. It was convened by Dr. Ranjay K. Singh, Assistant Director General (Agricultural Extension), ICAR, and concluded with a vote of thanks to the Chair and all participants.

(Source: Division of Agricultural Extension, ICAR)