News Overview

For decades, Latur has struggled with erratic rainfall, groundwater depletion, and soil degradation. Smallholder farmers with fragmented landholdings of just 1–2 hectares found it increasingly difficult to sustain productivity. Determined to change the situation, a science-led project launched in 2023 by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), in partnership with the Groundwater Survey and Development Agency

Women farmers in the Kalahandi and Bargarh districts of Odisha were celebrated as key change agents for the transformation of the drylands during ICRISAT’s International Women’s Day celebrations in the state. These women play a vital role in the Rice Fallow Management project, a prominent initiative led by the Government of Odisha, and their contributions are immensely valuable. The celebration

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) has been awarded the 2021 Africa Food Prize, for work that has improved food security across 13 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. ICRISAT, a CGIAR Research Center, is a non-profit, non-political public international research organization that conducts agricultural research for development in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa with a wide array of

In their battle against dry root rot (DRR) of chickpea, a devastating fungal disease emerging as a major threat in India, researchers at ICRISAT have recently zeroed in on a few promising set of genes that play a key role in the plant’s defense. The team led by Dr Mamta Sharma, who in their previous findings had affirmed the role

Surmounting all odds in 2020, ICRISAT with its ‘business as usual’ attitude was able to lend its name to many first-of-their-kind varietal releases of its crops across nations in Asia and Africa, and register big impacts in improving dryland agri-food systems. Advanced technologies and resources related to crop breeding, digital agriculture and genomics were shared as international public goods and

ICP 7035, a landrace of pigeonpea from India is a rare line with resistance to multiple diseases, is hardy and a consumer’s delight. Found by chance under unusual circumstances, the landrace has shown the importance of conserving biodiversity. Though It has proved to be a worthy cultivar and parent in breeding programs, scientists say its potential is yet to be

Researchers from ARS Tandur, IIPR Kanpur and ICRISAT monitoring progress in collaborative projects. Photo: C Sudhakar, ARS-Tandur DRG 59, a high-yielding variety of pigeonpea resistant to Fusarium wilt and sterility mosaic diseases, has been identified for cultivation in India’s south zone. The new variety produced 23.13% higher yield than the national check in three-year trials conducted by the All

At the recent GLF Africa: Restoring Africa’s Drylands Conference, thousands of restoration practitioners, scientists, activists, policymakers and others discussed ideas to provide evidence and guidance for restoring the drylands as a precursor to the launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021 to 2030). Africa’s drylands, which form almost 50% of the continent, are home to over 525 million