Workshop on NICRA-TDC Review and Future Roadmap Inaugurated

30 October 2025, Hyderabad

ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, in association with Indian Society of Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, organized the inaugural function of the three days Workshop on National Innovations on Climate Resilient Agriculture-Technology Demonstration Component (TDC) Review and Future Roadmap today at ICAR-CRIDA.

Dr. R. S. Paroda, Chairman, Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences (TASS) and Former Secretary (DARE) & Director General (ICAR), graced the inaugural session of the workshop as the Chief Guest.

In his address, Dr. Paroda appreciated the significant progress made under the NICRA–TDC initiative and emphasized the importance of integrating promising technologies into district action plans to ensure their inclusion in developmental programmes.

He underscored the need for a holistic approach to minimize the impacts of climate change and effectively manage extreme weather events. Dr. Paroda also highlighted the importance of developing comprehensive land use planning maps to aid policy makers in informed decision-making. Furthermore, he stressed the necessity to strengthen weather advisory systems and contingency planning for enhancing resilience in the agricultural sector.

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 also graced the occasion.

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, 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 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, 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.
NICRA, a flagship initiative of ICAR, has been instrumental in developing and demonstrating climate-smart technologies across the country.

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.

A special brainstorming session on ‘Leveraging NICRA Initiative for Pradhan Mantri Dhan Dhaanya Krishi Yojana 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.

•    Leveraging NICRA in Aspirational Districts of PMDDKY
•    Resilience due to climate resilient technologies and their expansion as part of PMDDKY
•    Mainstreaming Agromet Advisories: Lessons from NICRA villages to PMDDKY Districts
•    A National Framework for Climate-Resilient District Agriculture: Synergizing PM–Dhan Dhaanya Krishi Yojana and NICRA–TDC (2025–2031)

During the inaugural session 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.

(Source: ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad)