IARI Vision 2025

Abstract

Agriculture in India is the means of livelihood of almost two thirds of the workforce in the country. It employs nearly 62% of the country’s total population and occupies 42% of its total geographical area. From a nation dependent on food imports to feed its population, India today is not only self-sufficient in grain production, but also has a substantial reserve. The progress made by agriculture in the last four decades has been one of the biggest success stories of free India. Agriculture and allied activities constitute one of the main contributors to the Gross Domestic Product of the nation. The increase in agricultural production has been brought about by bringing additional area under cultivation, extension of irrigation facilities, the use of seed of improved high yielding varieties, better production technologies evolved through agricultural research, water management, and plant protection through judicious use of fertilizers, pesticides and cropping practices. The Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), a centenarian, is the country’s premier national Institute for agricultural research, education and extension. It has served the country by developing appropriate technologies through basic, strategic and need-based research resulting in crop improvement and agricultural productivity in harmony with the environment leading to the Green Revolution and served as a centre for academic excellence in the area of postgraduate education and human resource development in agricultural sciences. Agriculture in India is at a critical turning point. Stagnation of production in fine cereals, erratic behavior of climate, higher input cost, lower farm income, degradation and depletion of natural resources, inadequacy in the availability of quality seed and planting material are some of the issues where concerns have been expressed at various fora. The Institute has geared up with research progrmames to address some of these issues with the available manpower and resources using cutting-edge technologies like biotechnology and molecular biology, information and communication technology, physical sciences and nanotechnology. As in the past, the Institute has taken the initiative to meet the challenge of globalization/economic liberalization and issues related to WTO. The revised perspective plan document (Vision-2025) has been prepared based on the basic structure of Vision-2020 keeping in mind the recent developments in international agriculture. This provides the framework for new priorities, new programmes, participatory modes of action, and organizational adjustments for effectively addressing the challenges and opportunities before us and for ushering in an ever green revolution