A Three-Days Stakeholders Meeting on "Preparing and Operationalizing the Location-Specific Action Plans" under the National Innovations on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA)-Technology Demonstration Component (TDC) is inaugurated at ICAR-CRIDA, Hyderabad today. The meeting is being organized by ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), Hyderabad during 6-8 October, 2026.

More than 100 delegates including Directors from ATARIs and ICAR institutes at Hyderabad, Nodal Scientists, ZMC Members, Scientists from ICAR institutes and KVKs, and other programme stakeholders and scientists from ICAR-CRIDA participated in the programme.

Dr. Manmohan Singh Chauhan, Former Vice-Chancellor of G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology (GBPUAT), Pant Nagar was the Chief Guest of the inaugural session of the programme.

The other dignitaries for the inaugural program are Dr. N. Rakesh Kumar, Assistant Director General (ADG) (Agronomy, Agroforestry and Climate Change), Dr. Shaik. N. Meera, Director, ICAR-ATARI, Hyderabad.

Dr. Rajbir Singh, Deputy Director General (DDG), Extension, New Delhi and Dr. Ranjay Singh, Assistant Director General (ADG) (Agril. Extension) New Delhi were joined online. The event was initiated by lighting the lamp by the dignitaries as a symbol of bestowing knowledge eternally.

The present stakeholders meeting aims to review the achievements and lessons of the past five years and translate the approved NICRA-TDC Action Plan into location-specific action plans for the next phase.

Dr V. K. Singh, Director ICAR-CRIDA welcomed the delegates and dignitaries and briefed about the objectives of the programme. In his opening remarks appraised the gathering about the importance NICRA-TDC and praised the KVKs for their contribution during these 15 years. He also informed that many states of India utilizing the contingency plans prepared by CRIDA.

Dr. N. Rakesh Kumar, ADG (Agronomy, Agroforestry and Climate Change), in his address appreciated the NICRA-TDC team for providing required information to council at right time for preparing different plans. He asked to analyse the impact of different proven technologies which were demonstrated at field level.

Dr. Shaik. N. Meera, Director, ICAR-ATARI, Hyderabad praised the growth of NICRA-TDC during these 15 years which was implemented through KVK's and ATARI's in building resilience.He also appreciated the contingency plans prepared by CRIDA and stressed to develop the contingency plans at block level.

Dr. Rajbir Singh, DDG, Extension, who has participated virtually in the inaugural programme briefly explained how NICRA-TDC program executed at ground level to tackle climate change. He acknowledged the role of KVK's in success of NICRA-TDC. He stressed to work in convergence mode with state departments. He also advised to develop feedback mechanism from every district of country to help for the development of plans at right time.

Dr. Manmohan Singh Chauhan, Former VC, GBPUAT, Pantnagar appreciated the work of NICRA-TDC team during these 15 years. He stressed to transfer the technologies developed in labs to farmers' fields which will be useful to build the Vikasit Bharat. He also advised to do scientific validation of the technologies developed. Dr. Prathibha PI, NICRA - TDC, ICAR - CRIDA, Hyderabad proposed formal vote of thanks. The inaugural session will be followed by concurrent zone-wise review sessions on NICRA-TDC progress by different KVKs. Scientists from KVKs will present the progress and experiences of the past five years.

The deliberations will focus on reviewing progress, identifying gaps, sharing successful experiences and operationalizing the approved Action Plan. The recommendations will guide the next phase of NICRA-TDC, with emphasis on location-specific farming-system interventions, institutional convergence, digital monitoring and sustainable climate resilience at the village level.