Hyderabad/Bhubaneswar, Feb 6 (TNT): In a significant step towards advancing climate-resilient agricultural research, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), ICAR–Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (ICAR-CRIDA) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) have partnered with the Odisha Government to roll out the Odisha Agriculture Drought Mitigation Programme (OADMP).
The programme was formally launched recently at a State-level Inception Workshop in Bhubaneswar , positioning OADMP as a research-driven, field-tested model for drought mitigation in rainfed regions, Hyderabad based institute said in a release here on Friday.
The initiative is supported by the National Disaster Mitigation Fund of the National Disaster Management Authority and the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority.
OADMP adopts a science-led, landscape-based research framework that integrates soil and water management, climate-resilient crop varieties, diversified farming systems, livelihoods, nutrition outcomes and value-chain linkages.
The programme will be implemented across selected blocks in Nuapada, Nabarangpur and Mayurbhanj districts, covering nearly 24,000 farming households, while generating scalable evidence for wider replication.
Addressing the workshop, Odisha Deputy Chief Minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo underlined the importance of research-backed preparedness, noting that anticipatory science and agro-diversity-based solutions are critical for insulating farm livelihoods against rainfall variability.
Senior state agriculture officials highlighted the shift from scheme-driven interventions to systems-oriented, data-backed and farmer-centric approaches, with special focus on women farmers, climate-smart technologies and evidence-based decision-making.
Explaining the research design, ICRISAT scientists emphasised the role of Resilient Agriculture Village Clusters (RAVCs) as living laboratories to test and scale integrated drought adaptation strategies, linking farm-level innovations with markets and livelihoods.
The workshop featured technical deliberations by scientists from ICRISAT, IRRI and ICAR-CRIDA, covering agronomy, seed systems, soil and water conservation engineering and dryland systems research—underscoring the programme’s multi-disciplinary character.
ICRISAT Director General Himanshu Pathak said the initiative demonstrates how international agricultural research can be aligned with state priorities to co-create scalable, evidence-based solutions for climate resilience.
By combining applied research, institutional convergence and community participation, OADMP is expected to serve as a replicable research model for drought-prone regions in Odisha and beyond.
TNT TS
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