The XXVIII Biennial Workshop of All India Coordinated Research Project for Dryland Agriculture (AICRPDA) and XI Annual Review Meeting of AICRPDA-National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) was organised at Sher-E-Kashmir University of Agricultural Science and Technology Jammu (SKUAST-J) at Jammu during 4-7th March 2024.

Dr. S.K. Chaudhari, Deputy Director General, Natural Resources Management, ICAR was the Chief Guest and Dr B.N. Tripathi, Hon’ble Vice-Chancellor, SKUAS-Jammu, presided over the function. Dr. Vinod Kumar Singh, Director, ICAR-CRIDA, Dr S.K.Gupta, Director of Research & Registrar, SKUAT-J, Dr.JVNS Prasad, Project Coordinator (Dryland Research), Dr. P.K.Mishra, Former Director, ICAR-IISCR, Dehradun, Dr Venugopalan, Former, Head PME, ICAR-CICR, Nagpur, Dr D.M.Hegde, Former Director, ICAR-IIOR, Hyderabad, Dr.N.P.Singh, Former Director, ICAR-CCARI, Goa and Dr B.Venkateswarlu, Former Vice Chancellor, VNMKV, Parbhani attended. Scientists from the AICRPDA centers and CRIDA attended the workshop.

Dr. S.K. Chaudhari emphasized the need for diversifying income and advocated for increased use of renewable energy and water harvesting to mitigate the impact of deficit rainfall. Dr. B. N. Tripathi, Vice Chancellor, SKUAST-Jammu drew attention to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and underscored the need to educate farmers on sustainable agricultural practices.

Dr. V. K. Singh, Director, ICAR-CRIDA stressed the need for efficient natural resource management and climate resilient agriculture and emphasized the need for focused research proposals. Dr. JVNS Prasad, Project Coordinator, AICRPDA welcome all the guests and presented project coordinator’s report.

Dr. A.P. Singh, Chief Scientist, and Organizing Secretary presented the formal vote of thanks. During the workshop the progress of ongoing AICRPDA and NICRA project were reviewed. There were about 8 technical sessions. The new programs were thoroughly discussed and improved.