India & ICRISAT. Thinking outside the box of science

If they get Rated O, Outstanding overall, for 2008, I wouldn’t be surprised. They were Rated O by the World Bank for the years 2006 and 2007, #1 among 15 international agricultural research centers supported by CGIAR, Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research based in Washington DC. Doing their best doing their science.

I’m referring to ICRISAT, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics based in India. Team ICRISAT is what they have formed of themselves; partners are what they have sought for with other offices and institutions in India to serve the poor farmers in the SAT, semi-arid tropics. If they can do it in India, they can do it anywhere. While I’m confining it to India, this is a story of those collaborations.

For anyone to have an idea how steeped into the fabric of Indian science ICRISAT is, I have decided to compile a list of the Institute’s allies, Indians only, a total of 180 (no, not by any means complete), including farmer groups, regional governments and mass media:

(1) AAAI (Aakruthi Agricultural Associates of India)
(2) AAU (Assam Agricultural University)
(3) Advanta India
(4) AMIC-India (Asian Media Information and Communication Centre of India)
(5) Andhra Pradesh Government
(6) ANGRAU (Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University)
(7) APPF (Andhra Pradesh Poultry Federation)
(8) Avestha Gengraine Technologies
(9) Azim Premji Foundation
(10) BAIF Development Research Foundation
(11) BAU (Birsa Agricultural University)
(12) BCKV (Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya)
(13) Bioseed Research India
(14) Business Standard
(15) CARI (Central Agricultural Research Institute)
(16) CARI (Central Avian Research Institute)
(17) CAZRI (Central Arid Zone Research Institute), Jodhpur
(18) CDSA (Centre for Development Studies and Activities)
(19) CIAE (Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering)
(20) CIBA (Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture)
(21) CICFRI (Central Inland Capture Fisheries Research Institute)
(22) CIFA (Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture)
(23) CIFE (Central Institute of Fisheries Education)
(24) CIFT (Central Institute of Fisheries Technology)
(25) CII (Confederation of Indian Industry)
(26) CIPHET (Central Institute of Postharvest Engineering & Technology)
(27) CIRB (Central Institute for Research on Buffaloes)
(28) CIRCOT (Central Institute of Research on Cotton Technology)
(29) CIRG (Central Institute for Research on Goats)
(30) CISTH (Central Institute for Sub-Tropical Horticulture)
(31) CITH (Central Institute of Temperature Horticulture)
(32) CMFRI (Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute)
(33) CPCRI (Central Plantation Crops Research Institute)
(34) CPRI (Central Potato Research Institute)
(35) CRIDA (Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture)
(36) CRIJAF (Central Research Institute for Jute & Allied Fibres)
(37) CRRI (Central Rice Research Institute)
(38) CSAUA&T (CS Azad University of Agriculture & Technology)
(39) CSSRI (Central Soil Salinity Research Institute)
(40) CSWCRT (Central Soil & Water Conservation Research & Training Institute)
(41) CSWRI (Central Sheep & Wool Research Institute)
(42) CTCRI (Central Tuber Crops Research Institute)
(43) CTRI (Central Tobacco Research Institute)
(44) DA-IICT (Department of ICT for Agriculture)
(45) DBT (Department of Biotechnology)
(46) DCSR (Directorate of Cropping System Research)
(47) DOR (Directorate of Oilseed Research)
(48) DRR (Directorate of Rice Research)
(49) DST (Department of Science and Technology)
(50) DWMR (Directorate of Water Management Research)
(51) DWR (Directorate of Wheat Research)
(52) FEJI (Forum of Environmental Journalists of India)
(53) FFA (Federation of Farmers Associations)
(54) Financial Express
(55) Ganga Kaveri Seeds
(56) GAU (Gujarat Agricultural University)
(57) GBPUA&T (Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture & Technology)
(58) Genome Valley-Hyderabad, Government of Andhra Pradesh
(59) Haryana Agricultural University
(60) HAU (Haryana Agricultural University)
(61) Hindustan Lever
(62) HPKV (Himachal Pradesh Krishi Viswavidyalaya)
(63) IARI (Indian Agricultural Research Institute)
(64) IASRI (Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute)
(65) ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research)
(66) ICAR Research Complex for Goa
(67) ICAR Research Complex for North Eastern Hilly Region
(68) ICICI Bank
(69) IGFRI (Indian Grassland & Fodder Research Institute)
(70) IGKVV (Indira Gandhi Krishi Viswa Vidyalaya)
(71) IGNOU (Indira Gandhi National Open University)
(72) IIHR (Indian Institute of Horticulture Research)
(73) IIPR (Indian Institute of Pulses Research)
(74) IISc (Indian Institute of Science)
(75) IISR (Indian Institute of Spices Research)
(76) IISR (Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research)
(77) IISS (Indian Institute of Soil Sciences)
(78) IITB (Indian Institute of Technology Bombay)
(79) IITK (Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur)
(80) IIITM-K (Indian Institute of Information Technology & Management-Kerala)
(81) NAARM (National Academy of Agricultural Research Management)
(82) UAS (University of Agricultural Sciences)
(83) ILRI (Indian Lac Research Institute)
(84) IMD (India Meteorological Department)
(85) ISI (Indian Statistical Institute)
(86) IVRI (Indian Veterinary Research Institute)
(87) Janaki Feeds
(88) JK Agri-Genetics
(89) JNKVV (Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Viswa Vidyalaya)
(90) Kanchan Ganga Seed
(91) KAU (Kerala Agricultural University)
(92) KKV (Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth)
(93) Madhya Pradesh Government
(94) Mahendra Hybrid Seeds Company
(95) MAHYCO (Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company)
(96) MANAGE (National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management)
(97) MAU (Marathwada Agricultural University)
(98) Microsoft Corp India
(99) MKC (Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation)
(100) MPKV (Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth)
(101) MPUAT (Maharana Pratap University for Agriculture and Technology)
(102) MSSRF (MS Swaminathan Research Foundation)
(103) MV Foundation
(104) NAARM (National Academy of Agricultural Research Management)
(105) Nandan Biomatrix
(106) Navbharat Seeds
(107) NBAGR (National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources)
(108) NBFGR (National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources)
(109) NBSSLUP (National Bureau of Soil Survey & Land Use Planning)
(110) NCAEPR (National Centre for Agri-Economics & Policy Research)
(111) NCIPM (National Centre for Integrated Pest Management)
(112) NCMRT (National Centre for Mushroom Research & Training)
(113) NCPGR (National Centre for Plant Genome Research)
(114) NDRI (National Dairy Research Institute)
(115) NDUA&T (Narendra Dev University of Agriculture & Technology)
(116) New Nandi Seeds Corp
(117) NIANP (National Institute of Animal Nutrition & Physiology)
(118) NIC (National Informatics Centre)
(119) NIRJAFT (National Institute of Research on Jute & Allied Fibres Technology)
(120) NRCA (National Research Centre for Agroforestry)
(121) NRCAH (National Research Centre for Arid Horticulture)
(122) NRCB (National Research Centre for Banana)
(123) NRCC (National Research Centre for Citrus)
(124) NRCC (National Research Centre on Camel)
(125) NRCCF (National Research Centre on Coldwater Fisheries)
(126) NRCCK (National Research Centre for Cashew Kamminje)
(127) NRCE (National Research Centre on Equines)
(128) NRCG (National Research Centre for Grapes)
(129) NRCG (National Research Centre for Groundnut)
(130) NRCM (National Research Centre on Meat)
(131) NRCM (National Research Centre on Mithun)
(132) NRCMAP (National Research Centre for Medicinal & Aromatic Plants)
(133) NRCO (National Research Centre on Oil Palms)
(134) NRCO (National Research Centre on Orchids)
(135) NRCOG (National Research Centre for Onion & Garlic)
(136) NRCPB (National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology)
(137) NRCRM (National Research Centre on Rapeseed Mustard)
(138) NRCS (National Research Centre for Sorghum)
(139) NRCS (National Research Centre for Soybean)
(140) NRCWA (National Research Centre on Women in Agriculture)
(141) NRCWS (National Research Centre for Weed Science)
(142) NRCWTCER (National Research Centre on Water Technology, Center for Eastern Region)
(143) NRCY (National Research Centre on Yak)
(144) NRSA (National Remote Sensing Agency)
(145) Nuziveedu Seeds
(146) OUA&T (Orissa University of Agriculture & Technology)
(147) PAU (Punjab Agricultural University)
(148) PDBC (Project Directorate of Biological Control)
(149) PDC (Project Directorate on Cattle)
(150) PDM (Project Directorate on Maize)
(151) PDP (Project Directorate on Poultry)
(152) PFA (Progressive Farmers Association)
(153) PKV (Panjabrao Krishi Vidyapeeth)
(154) Prabhat Agri-Biotech
(155) Praj Industries
(156) Pravardhan Seeds
(157) Proagro Seeds
(158) Rajasthan Government
(159) Rasi Seeds
(160) RAU (Rajasthan Agricultural University)
(161) RAU (Rajendra Agricultural University)
(162) READ (Rural Education and Agricultural Development)
(163) Rusni Distilleries
(164) Samaj Pragati Sahayog
(165) SBI (Sugarcane Breeding Institute)
(166) Seed Works India
(167) Shriram Bioseed
(168) Sir Dorabji Tata Trust
(169) SKUAS&T Shere-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology)
(170) Tata Chemicals
(171) TelNet Group (Telecommunications and Computer Networking Group)
(172) The Hindu
(173) TNAU (Tamil Nadu Agricultural University)
(174) TNV&ASU (Tamil Nadu Veterinary & Agricultural Sciences University)
(175) TVS Agri Sciences Research Institute
(176) UAS (University of Agricultural Sciences)
(177) VIKSAT (Vikram Sarabhai Centre for Development Interaction)
(178) VPKAS (Vivekanand Parvatiya Krishi Anusandhan Shala)
(179) WBUA&FE (West Bengal University of Animal & Fishery Education)
(180) YSPUH&F (YS Parmar University of Horticulture & Forestry).

Indians only. 180 partners? You better believe it!

And it just so happens that 180 is exactly the number of essays I have published so far (except this one) in American Chronicle as of today, 16 March, in the last 160 weeks, more than 1 essay a week. I know because I keep a running list. Those essays are an average of 1,500 words each. About 1 out of 3 of those essays is related to ICRISAT. And why is that?

Note that I included mass media as ICRISAT’s fellow workers in science. Media can ignore you and you can ignore me, part of media, but you can’t ignore media. Both the theory and practice of science need the endorsement of media.

‘The medium is the message,’ media thinker Marshall McLuhan says. That is to say, some media are meant for some audiences and not for others. I prefer to publish my essays on the virtual paper called the Internet because my target readers are the computer literate who (should) know what they want, or want to know what they need to know more about at the click of a mouse. And early on I came across and chose ICRISAT as my model science agency to write about because I was intrigued that ICRISAT could squeeze water from stone, could achieve so much from so little, could transform its own decreasing performance to one increasing in quantity and quality. Team ICRISAT was doing something right!

When I started my online science writing in February 2006 at American Chronicle, I didn’t know either William from Adam or Dar from Doe, but after I interviewed him in Manila and read some publications, I saw how William Dar had refreshed a fading Institute on one hand and how on the other hand Team ICRISAT combined their minds and hearts to begin to deliver on the promises of their science as they worked on 5 mandate crops, each of which needs improvement in its genes: chickpea, peanut (groundnut), pearl millet, pigeon pea, and sorghum. It takes a leader.

In 2002, on the 3rd year of Dar’s captainship, ICRISAT had already began to think outside the box: one, outside the field to consider ‘the full chain of events that begins with planting and concludes with eating – from tillage to table;’ two, outside traditional research ‘to embrace and assimilate the concerns of stakeholders outside our traditional research parameters’ (page 4, Annual Report 2002); and three, in 2003, outside the usual Leader-Followers to hug the concept of Team (page 3, Annual Report 2003). Thinking outside the box is not rejecting the box; it is relating the box to the world around it.

So, while resource-challenged, the underachievers became achievers. Because the crops were themselves resource-challenged, needing to grow on poor soils with little or no moisture, Team ICRISAT and partners went to work so that by 2004, they had already produced, for instance, sorghum hybrids with yields higher than those of the best local varieties by an average of 38%, grown on those same poor soils (ICRISAT Annual Report 2005). Ambaari, rendement, rendimiento, ani – yield is a word that farmers understand very well in any language and with any crop.

As I read more on ICRISAT, I was struck with the thought that if William Dar could succeed with underachieving staff working on impoverished soils in India, he could succeed anywhere. After all, he is a Filipino, he who is more than a survivor. I reflected on the science applied to crops and soils of the Philippines, and came to the conclusion that ICRISAT’s success had been based not only on intelligent genetic and natural resource management but more so with astute management of these other necessary resources: human, financial, and institutional. Your science must work not only with crops and soils but more so with society, structures and systems.

Years earlier, in the ICRISAT annual report for 2001, on his 1st year as Director General, William Dar said:

ICRISAT works over a vast geographical area, a broad research agenda, and with a dizzying array of partners. Sometimes the complexity can seem overwhelming. To help tie it all together for you, we try to present it (the ICRISAT story) from a different perspective each year.

By shifting paradigms, ICRISAT has made itself creative, productive. Internalizing, I myself try to present the ICRISAT story from a different point of view in each succeeding essay. Variety is the spice of life, of science, of writing.

This time, my story is that of the intellectual, information-based, knowledge-driven relationship between India and ICRISAT. 180 partners! When I began the list, I was thinking of a long list of 50; I was pleasantly surprised to reach beyond 100 – the list tells me there is so much faith of the Indians in their science as well as in ICRISAT as a partner in research and development. My compliments to the Chief!

I can only give compliments; the news this March is that the Governing Board of ICRISAT through its Chair Stein Bie has just given its formal offer of a 3rd term starting 2010 to William Dar, the Institute’s Director General appointed in 2000 and reappointed in 2005 (Happenings 1353, 13 March 2009). Dar must be doing very, very, very well. My triple compliments to the Chief!

The modern history of India and its relationship with ICRISAT has shown how state and science can work toward making value-adding matches. The Indians’ emphasis on the science of agriculture is at least 60 years old. About science, their beloved Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had said in 1937, ‘Science is the spirit of the age and the dominating factor of the modern world. Even more than the present, the future belongs to science and to those who make friends with science and seek its help for the advancement of humanity’ (quoted by Pratibha Devisingh Patil, President of India, presidentofindia.nic.in). Nehru had graduated from Cambridge University, and had drunk from its wellspring of advanced knowledge and research. Nehru became the first Prime Minister of India in 1947 and served in that position until 1964. About agriculture, Nehru said in 1963, ‘Agriculture is far more important than any industry’ (quoted by Ravindra Kumar, americanchronicle.com). I take it that Nehru was trying to say that science applied to agriculture must be for the advancement not simply of agriculture but of the people. Today I see that in India with ICRISAT.

Modern India was born in 1947, with Nehru nurturing her growth under the climate change of Independence from British Imperialism. ICRISAT was born in India in 1972 under the climate change of nurturing international Agricultural Science. ICRISAT was the very first international research institute created under the aegis of the CGIAR and supported by the World Bank. India was chosen as the location of the main campus of ICRISAT for 2 major reasons: it had the widest areas of drylands in its Deccan plateau, and it had a strong national research capability. Problems awaited solutions from ICRISAT working with local allies.

Today, India is known for the hybrid vigor of her science, and my list of 180 collaborators tells me ICRISAT has contributed a good part of that in the broad field of agriculture. After setting up headquarters near Hyderabad in southern India in 1972, ICRISAT had quickly initiated partnerships with the NARS, National Agricultural Research System, and the universities of India. Naturally, the host country had understandably been the most immediate and largest recipient of the impact of ICRISAT’s application of science for the poor.

2000 was to become a watershed in the history of ICRISAT when Dar became its Director General. Before that, ICRISAT had been moribund. Dar injected fresh blood into the system with the team spirit and his can-do kind of management.

2 years later, in December 2001, winner of the World Food Prize 1987 and Father of the Indian Green Revolution MS Swaminathan told the audience at the Annual Day function at ICRISAT in its headquarters in Patancheru, India (icrisat.org):

We are entering an exciting phase of science, but it must be Science with a Human Face. India needs science that will increase not only the country’s Gross National Product, but also its Gross National Happiness!

In that quote, we have 2 original thinkers: ‘Science with a Human Face’ is Dar’s while ‘Gross National Happiness’ is Swaminathan’s. Neither is facetious.

Swaminathan was one of the founding fathers of ICRISAT in 1972, when as Director General of the Indian Council on Agricultural Research, he joined with the other two legs of the 'ICRISAT Tripod,' C Fred Bentley of Canada, who served as the Institute’s first Chair of the Governing Board; Ralph W Cummings, immediate past Director General of IRRI, International Rice Research Institute based at Los Baños in Laguna in the Philippines, who served as founding Director. ICRISAT was the 5th member to join the global research network currently composed of 15 international agricultural research centers under the CGIAR (as of February 2007, cgiar.org): Africa Rice Center (in Cotonou, Benin), Bioversity International (Rome, Italy), Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (Cali, Colombia), Centro Internacional de la Papa (Lima, Peru), Center for International Forestry Research (Bogor, Indonesia), Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maiz y Trigo (Mexico City), International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (Aleppo, Syria), ICRISAT (Patancheru, India), International Food Policy Research Institute (Washington, DC), International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (Ibadan, Nigeria), International Livestock Research Institute (Nairobi, Kenya), International Rice Research Institute (Los Baños, Philippines), International Water Management Institute (Colombo, Sri Lanka), World Agroforestry Center (Nairobi, Kenya), and WorldFish Center (Penang, Malaysia).

In that same occasion in 2001, Bentley said he was glad about the continuing excellence of research at ICRISAT, and urged the staff to continue to work on behalf of the poor farmers of the semi-arid tropics. Reflecting on the Green Revolution, Swaminathan stressed that adequate support was necessary for agricultural research, especially on the so-called 'orphan crops' of the dry tropics. ‘Otherwise orphans will remain orphans. We need to increase crop productivity sustainably. To import food is to import unemployment.’ Orphan crops are important locally, not globally – they add value to farmers’ lives; the exporters can take care of themselves.

ICRISAT’s overall partnership in science with the whole of India has been growing even stronger in recent years, and the funding support from formal and non-formal sources in that country has been increasing for the Institute. Here are some specifics on improvements on the status quo arising from such a partnership:

Zero Pesticide Use. With partners, ICRISAT has developed a strategy to minimize crop loss to peanut stem necrosis disease. Thus, employing principles of integrated pest management, Indian farmers of pigeon pea and peanut have reduced pesticide use by up to 100%!

World’s First Sorghum Ethanol. With the private company Rusni Distilleries and with funding support from the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, in June 2007 ICRISAT was able to announce the world's first commercially successful project for producing ethanol from sweet sorghum, with small farmers of India supplying the feedstock.

Rebirth of a Crop. ICRISAT’s Maruti pigeon pea has revived the crop in central India, especially in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra. That is because ICRISAT-bred Maruti is resistant to the deadly wilt disease, which has devastated previous plantings. Thus, the farmers of Karnataka have begun referring to the ICRISAT cultivar as ‘a blessing and a miracle’ (lnweb90.worldbank.org).

Upheaval with a Crop. From ICRISAT has come short-duration Fusarium-wilt resistant kabuli chickpea varieties such as Swetha and KAK 2, and desi varieties Kranthi and JG 11 – taken together, these have triggered some sort of a chickpea revolution in Andhra Pradesh. The record: a 6-fold increase in area (to 360,000 ha) and a 20-fold increase in production (to 580,000 tons) from 1990 to 2006.

Improved Pigeon Pea. In the drylands of India, ICRISAT's recent research breakthroughs achieved in partnership with the public and private sectors have the potential for both higher yields and better linkages of farmers with industries and markets. For instance, the hybrid pigeon pea ICPH 2671, because of its greater tolerance to drought and higher root mass, is expected to increase crop productivity by more than 30%.

Increased Incomes. ICRISAT projects have been strengthened by collaboration with the Indian Government, state governments and the network of agricultural universities. Over the years, 142 improved varieties of sorghum, pearl millet, chickpea, pigeon pea and groundnut developed by ICRISAT have been released in India, raising production and incomes of small farmers substantially.

Increased Support. Dar notes that ‘it is a measure of the increase of confidence and trust that the funding supports from formal and non-formal sources in India for ICRISAT have been increasing in the recent years.’ Specifically, the latest available data shows that the support from the Government of India increased from US$ 400,000 in 2005 to US$ 1.4 million in 2006, and was expected to rise to US$ 2.3 million in 2007. There had also been similar increases in contributions from state governments, foundations and trusts, and private sector companies, increasing the total funding package from India from US$ 1.3 million in 2005 to US$ 2.8 million in 2006, and an estimated US$ 4 million in 2007.

Improved Harvests in Drylands. Applying lessons learned from the Institute’s Adarsha Project, of which I have reported (see ‘Water Lessons of Adarsha,’ icrisatwatch.blogspot.com), the work of ICRISAT scientists and partners in 10 nucleus and 40 satellite watershed projects has resulted in from 30 to 120% increases in harvests of various crops.

Increased Pearl Millet. With ICAR collaboration, ICRISAT has released over 70 pearl millet hybrids cultivated in about 4.5 million hectares (about 50% of the area under pearl millet in the country), contributing to cultivar diversity and increasing the crop's national productivity.

Increased Chickpea. Today, ICRISAT chickpeas form about 37% of India’s chickpea breeder seeds. Between 1993 and 2002, the area planted to chickpea increased 5 times and the yields 13 times. In Andhra Pradesh alone, ICRISAT chickpea farmers were earning $60 more per hectare than those who planted the local variety. In Maharashtra, farmers enjoyed added net incomes of 89%.

Increased Milk from Groundnut. In the Ananthapur District of Andhra Pradesh, the ICRISAT dual-purpose groundnut ICGV 91114 has proven to be more resistant to disease and drought than the local varieties. Also, this variety has higher yields (pods and fodder) and dairy animals fed with the haulms have been observed to yield 10% more milk.

Improved Crop Improvement. In 2000, 10 Indian companies and ICRISAT developed the Hybrid Parents Research Consortia. The members grew to 30 in 2004. In 2008, a biotechnology center was approved for funding at $6.25 M for 5 years (2008-2013), a joint project with the Department of Biotechnology of the Indian Ministry of Science & Technology. This will provide a platform for transgenic research in crop improvement and build synergies among institutions. Transferring genes from one organism to another, more popularly known as genetic engineering, is resorted to when problems cannot be solved through conventional breeding.

Empowered Partners. Part of ICRISAT’s goal is to empower its science partners by enhancing their skills, including how to prioritize and implement interventions and predict trends. Once partners learn to empower themselves, they can be relied upon to teach the farmers how to empower themselves too, a necessary step toward local development.

Improved Science Q&A. VASAT, Virtual Academy for the Semi-Arid Tropics, was set up in late 2003 in India. This is a virtual coalition facilitated by ICRISAT for information, communication and capacity-building. Volunteers help operate the setup, which for instance has reduced the time for answers to reach askers of questions 6 times shorter, to 20 hours. Collaborators in VASAT in India include the Indira Gandhi National Open University, Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, and the National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management of India.

Improved Communication of Science. ICRISAT signed a memorandum of agreement with the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre of India to conduct a series of media workshops on reporting biotechnology. To improve knowing sharing in its practice of science, ICRISAT has also been encouraging and working closely with people in the print, electronic and Web-based media.

Open Access to Research Results. In collaboration with FAO, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, ICRISAT launched through a workshop ‘an initiative to promote open-access information sources in agricultural sciences and technology in India’ (icrisat.org). The workshop was participated in by representatives of ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research), MANAGE (National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management), IISc (Indian Institute of Science), MSSRF (MS Swaminathan Research Foundation), ISI (Indian Statistical Institute) and NIC (National Informatics Centre). 2 pilot repositories were to be set up, one in Delhi with support from ICAR, and another in Hyderabad with support from ICRISAT and MANAGE.

Improved Agricultural Extension. ICRISAT is collaborating with TelNet, Telecommunications and Computer Networking Group of the Indian Institute of Technology, to set up a system for gathering and sharing information on weather to provide advisory to dryland farmers (icrisat.org). More than that, the information kiosk will provide ICT services in 3 areas: for rural development, open and distance learning, and further agricultural research.

Improved Business Incubation. ICRISAT’s ABI, Agri-Business Incubator aims at helping develop technologies to become commercial success through public-private partnerships. Recently, ABI won the Asian Association of Business Incubation Award for 2008. ABI is part of ICRISAT’s Agri-Biotech Park. Since 2003, ICRISAT has been promoting the Park at the Patancheru campus jointly with the Genome Valley-Hyderabad of the Government of Andhra Pradesh. The Park is designed to attract world-class biotech companies, corporations and foundations to establish units and commercialize their technologies from there.

Now then, for all those achievements mentioned above and many others not included, can Team ICRISAT afford to relax? In fact, their work has barely begun. For millions more in the drylands of India, not to mention the drylands of the rest of Asia, Africa, Australia and the Americas, poverty remains.

In the photo, 2nd from right, in December 2000, Shri N Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, speaking for his own state government, challenged Director General William Dar, right, in behalf of ICRISAT to jointly develop a model for transferring technology to boost productivity of dryland farms, a model that can be easily replicated in India and around the world (icrisat.org). With that, with minimum inputs, poor soils can yield rich harvests for a maximum number.

Progress begins once the challenge is recognized. The story of ICRISAT so far tells me that the power of technology to transform the world needs the power of men to transform their own selves from working separately to working together. For public-private, science-societal progressive partnerships in India and the rest of the world, the huge challenge of development remains.