ICAR @98: Science, innovation and sustainability for Viksit Bharat 2047

As the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) marks its 98th Foundation Day, the occasion celebrates the remarkable journey of the country’s premier agricultural research, education, and extension organisation, while highlighting its enduring commitment to transforming Indian agriculture through farmer-centric technologies, science, innovation, and last-mile delivery. Over the past nine+ decades, ICAR has played a pivotal role in ensuring India’s food, nutrition, and livelihood security by continuously developing and disseminating climate-resilient crop varieties, better livestock breeds, sustainable natural resource management practices, and scale-appropriate farming tools. Today, as India advances towards the vision of Viksit Bharat @2047, agriculture remains central to economic growth, environmental sustainability, and rural prosperity. The next phase of India’s agricultural transformation must, therefore, be driven by scientific excellence, technological innovation, and a calibrated transition towards a sustainable bioeconomy.

The growth story
India’s agricultural transformation over the last decade has been remarkable. Foodgrain production increased from 252 million tonnes in 2014-15 to an estimated 376.6 million tonnes in 2025-26, registering a growth of nearly 49%. This achievement reflects the cumulative impact of scientific research, improved seed systems, precision agronomy, mechanisation, and policy- and skill-led rapid adoption of modern technologies by farmers. The additional 19 million tonnes of foodgrain produced in 2025-26 alone generated an estimated economic value of around Rs 60,000 crore, with nearly Rs 20,000 crore attributed to ICAR’s research. The estimate assumes that research accounted for 30% of the production gains. The higher output strengthened India’s food security, raised rural incomes, and improved economic resilience.


The horticulture sector has emerged as another key driver of agricultural growth, with production increasing from 281 million tonnes in 2014-15 to nearly 377 million tonnes in 2025-26, representing a growth of 34%. The additional annual production of nearly 7 million tonnes contributes approximately Rs 20,000 crore to the economy while improving nutritional security. Similar progress has been achieved in livestock and fisheries. Livestock products generated an additional annual economic value of nearly Rs 50,000 crore during 2025-25, while fish production more than doubled from 9.57 million tonnes in 2014-15 to 19.77 million tonnes in 2025-26, contributing an additional Rs 40,000 crore. Collectively, agriculture and allied sectors now generate nearly Rs 1.7 lakh crore in additional annual economic value, underscoring the transformative impact of agricultural research, innovation, and technology-led development.

Science to impact
Sustained investments in agricultural science have made these achievements possible. In the past year, 386 crop varieties covering 44 crops have been released, including 29 biofortified varieties aimed at addressing hidden hunger and nutritional deficiencies. Notably, over 94% of the released crop varieties are climate resilient, capable of withstanding drought, floods, heat, salinity, and emerging pest challenges. Likewise, 117 varieties of 57 horticultural crops have been released, offering higher productivity, improved quality, enhanced disease resistance, and superior planting material that are transforming India’s horticultural landscape.

Animal science research has also entered a new era of innovation. Indigenous vaccines for foot and mouth disease (FMD), peste des petits ruminants (PPR), canine parvovirus, and African swine fever (ASF) have strengthened national animal health systems, contributing to an 85% reduction in FMD outbreaks. ICAR has developed 72 indigenous livestock technologies, including vaccines, vaccine candidates, diagnostic kits, feed formulations, herbal products, and animal health solutions that support the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat. Scientific advances have extended to animal genetics as well, with 26 indigenous breeds of livestock and poultry registered; the world’s first registered Nagami Mithun breed; the first chromosome-level genome sequencing of the Arunachali Yak; the development of the country’s first gene-edited sheep; and five indigenous kits for detecting milk and meat adulteration.

India’s blue economy has similarly benefited from frontier technologies. The integration of Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning (ML), and artificial intelligence (AI) has enabled shrimp stress detection systems and intelligent disease monitoring, while the AILenS@NMFDC platform is transforming marine fisheries data management and decision support. These innovations illustrate ICAR’s increasing emphasis on digital agriculture and precision resource management.

Climate challenge and agriculture
Despite remarkable progress in developing and scaling climate-resilient technologies, ensuring the long-term sustainability of Indian agriculture remains a critical challenge under changing climatic conditions. Small and fragmented landholdings, excessive dependence on declining groundwater resources, soil degradation, loss of soil organic carbon, climate variability, biodiversity erosion, emerging pests and diseases, and rising greenhouse gas emissions continue to threaten agricultural productivity and resilience. Addressing these challenges also requires significantly higher investment in agricultural research, innovation, and technology to accelerate the transition from resource-intensive production systems to a climate-smart, circular, and knowledge-driven bioeconomy that efficiently utilises biological resources for food, feed, fibre, bioenergy, and ecosystem restoration.

ICAR is addressing these emerging challenges by promoting sustainable agriculture through science-based natural farming protocols, integrated farming systems, model farms, digital soil-climate databases, and soil health management. Simultaneously, it is advancing climate-resilient crop varieties, precision agriculture, regenerative farming, efficient water and nutrient management, and carbon sequestration technologies. Ensuring future water security demands a shift from monsoon-dependent agriculture to water-smart farming through precision irrigation, climate-resilient cropping systems, aquifer recharge, watershed management, and AI-enabled weather advisories, thereby strengthening productivity, resilience, resource-use efficiency, food security, and farmers’ incomes.

Developing future-ready force
Human resource development and technology dissemination remain at the core of ICAR’s mission. Through its network of 80 agricultural universities and agriculture faculty universities, ICAR is nurturing the next generation of agricultural scientists, entrepreneurs, and innovators. Over 23,000 students have completed the READY (Rural Entrepreneurship Awareness Development Yojana) programme so far, while 79 experiential learning modules have strengthened entrepreneurship-led agricultural education, with more than 400 student-led enterprises currently in operation. Extension initiatives have significantly enhanced last-mile technology delivery. Under the Khet Bachao Abhiyan, over 1.31 lakh programmes reached nearly 10 million farmers across 728 districts, supported by 90,000 live demonstrations, in addition to large-scale agri-skill development programmes by Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) across the country. The initiatives like Green Fields and Clean Air have further promoted sustainable crop residue management with a significant reduction in farm fires. Reflecting its growing innovation ecosystem, ICAR filed 805 IPRs and executed 1,012 technology licensing agreements during 2025-26, while accelerating technology adoption across 24 states.

Global leadership
International collaboration has also expanded considerably. Through 10 strategic memoranda of understanding, ICAR has strengthened global agricultural partnerships while actively contributing to the BRICS Agricultural Research Platform. The establishment of the BRICS Network Centre of Excellence on Regenerative Agriculture and Natural Farming at ICAR-IIFSR, Modipuram (Uttar Pradesh), reinforces India’s growing leadership in sustainable agricultural research. Simultaneously, ICAR has effectively leveraged digital communication and social media platforms, bringing together ICAR institutes, KVKs, and agricultural universities under a unified national communication ecosystem to enhance farmer outreach and stakeholder engagement.

Science-led transformation
The launch of SEHAT (Science Excellence for Health through Agricultural Transformation) integrates agriculture, nutrition, and health, positioning agriculture as a key driver of preventive healthcare. The Mission for Cotton Productivity (Rs 5,659.22 crore) aims to achieve cotton self-sufficiency and enhance India’s global competitiveness by 2030-31. Looking ahead, Viksit Bharat 2047 requires increasing mechanisation from 47% to 80%, nutrient-use efficiency from 35% to 75%, water-use efficiency from 40% to 80%, reducing post-harvest losses to below 5%, and delivering AI-enabled, location-specific contextualised advisories to every farmer. The proposed HARVEST framework will integrate research, education and extension, ensuring convergence, efficient governance and accelerated science-led agricultural transformation.

As ICAR enters its 98th year, it stands at the forefront of a new agricultural transformation driven by science, innovation, sustainability, and resilience. The future of Indian agriculture lies in producing more with fewer resources through climate-smart technologies, digital agriculture and a circular bioeconomy. Achieving Viksit Bharat 2047 requires agriculture to move beyond production towards value addition, food processing, exports, bio-based industries, carbon markets, and rural entrepreneurship. Greater participation of the private sector through CSR, public-private partnerships, and agri-start-ups will accelerate innovation. Guided by scientific excellence and institutional reforms, ICAR will continue translating science into societal impact, building a globally competitive, climate-resilient, and prosperous agricultural sector.

M.L. Jat is Secretary, DARE and DG ICAR; and Naveen P. Singh is ADG-IR, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi. Views are personal.