Arnold Thomas

Expert

Published on: Jul 30, 2026

National Innovations on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA)

National Innovations on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) is a network project of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). The project is aiming to enhance the resilience of

Indian agriculture to climate change and climate vulnerability through strategic research and technology demonstration. The research for adaptation and mitigation covers crops, livestock, fisheries and natural resource management. The project consists of four components, and they are Strategic Research, Technology Demonstration, Capacity Building, and Sponsored/Competitive Grants. Climate change is an important area of concern for the whole world and to India as well. Ensuring food and nutritional security for the growing population like India is challenging as the primary source of food is through agriculture. India is predicted to yield less between 4.5 & 9% due to change in the climate. Since agriculture makes up around 16% of India’s GDP, a 4.5 to 9% negative impact on agri production implies a cost of climate change to be roughly up to 1.5% of GDP per year. Hence, the Government of India has favoured high priority on research and development to withstand climate change in the agriculture sector.

Objectives

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has launched a Project entitled, National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) with the below objectives:

To enhance the resilience of Indian agriculture which covers crops, livestock and fisheries to climatic variability and climate change through the development of technologies
To demonstrate site-specific technology packages on farmers’ fields
To enhance the capacity building of scientists and other stakeholders in climate-resilient agricultural research and its application

Components of the Project

Both short term and long term outputs are expected from the new and improved varieties of crops, livestock breeds, management practices which helps in adaptation & mitigation and inputs for creating a policy on

climate-resilient agriculture in the developmental planning. The overall outcome has improved the resilience of agricultural production to climate variability in vulnerable regions. The project is comprising of four components:

Strategic research on adaptation and mitigation
Technology demonstration on farmers’ fields with present climate variability
Sponsored and competitive research grants to fill research
Capacity building of stake-holders

Strategic Research

The research and development have been planned at leading research institutes of ICAR covering crops,

horticulture, livestock, natural resource management and fisheries sectors. The project is focusing on major crops like banana, wheat, rice, pigeonpea, groundnut, maize, tomato, mango and cattle, buffalo and small ruminants among livestock and both marine and freshwater fish species of economic importance. The major research themes are:

Assessment of major production zones
Linking weather-based agro-advisories
Assessing the impacts and evolving varieties which are tolerant to climatic disturbances like drought, heat, frost, flooding, etc. in food and horticulture crops
Effective monitoring of greenhouse gases
Evolving adaptation and mitigation plans through enhancing water and nutrient use efficiency and conservation agriculture
Studying environmental changes in pests, pest/pathogen-crop relationships and solutions with new pests and pathogens under climate change.
Adaptation of strategies in livestock through nutritional and environmental initiatives

Technology Demonstration

The technology demonstration component deals with demonstrating technologies for adapting crop and livestock production systems to climate variability. This component is implemented in selected districts of the country through location-specific interventions by

Krishi Vigyan Kendras in a participatory model. The project is implemented in 100 districts covering over one lakh families across the country. The selection of districts are done on the following criteria:

Drought proneness
Cyclone proneness based on the frequency
Flood proneness
Vulnerability to the heat wave and cold wave
Actual incidence of floods and droughts

The interventions in the village panchayats are finalised following a participatory approach through the

Village Climate Risk Management Committee (VCRMC) based on the climate-related problems in the village survey. The program was launched in all the villages by involving the state departments and leaders of the panchayats. This is to ensure local ownership from the beginning and convergence of related schemes currently in operation in the panchayat. The interventions are made in the following four areas:

Natural resources
Crop Production
Livestock and Fisheries
Institutional Interventions

Capacity Building

As climate change is an emerging area of science, capacity building of young scientists on simulation modelling, phenotyping, greenhouse gasses measurement, etc. is being taken up through training programs organised in India and sponsoring scientists abroad. Similarly, more than 100 training programs have been organised across the country, covering 50000 farmers to create awareness on climate change and variability.

Approach of the Scheme

The unique features of the Scheme to be implemented are:

Strengthening the net-work research on adaptation and mitigation with more infrastructure and capacity building
Setting up of phenotype platforms and temperature, CO2, ozone gradient facilities at locations/institutions
Strengthening research on crops like cotton, maize, sugarcane, onion, etc. which are sensitive to climate
Water availability at the basin level and participatory action at a large number of sites through water-saving technologies
Planning for a national level pest and disease monitoring system to assess the changing pest dynamics under changing climate
Strengthening crop simulation and down-scaling modelling capabilities
Piloting the operationalisation of the district/block level agromet advisory services during droughts and floods
Expanding the technology demonstration and dissemination to the selected 130 vulnerable districts of the country

Contact

For further information regarding the project, please contact: Deputy Director General (Natural Resource Management) Indian Council of Agricultural Research Krishi Anusandhan Bhavan–II Pusa Road New Delhi. Phone: +91-11-25848364 Director (A) ICAR-CRIDA Santoshnagar, Saidabad P.O., Hyderabad-500059. Telangana Phone: +91-40-24530177, Fax: +91-40-24531802 E-mail: director.crida@icar.gov,in, nicra1.crida@gmail.com For activities of participating ICAR Institutes and KVKs, you may contact either Principal Investigators/Directors of respective institutes or Zonal Project Directorates (ZPD).

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Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about Climate Resilient Agriculture Initiatives by ICAR India.

The purpose of NICRA is to enhance the resilience of Indian agriculture, including crops, livestock, and fisheries, to climate change and climate variability through strategic research and technology demonstration. It aims to develop and demonstrate site-specific technologies and practices to adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change on agricultural production.

The NICRA project consists of four main components: strategic research, technology demonstration, sponsored/competitive grants, and capacity building. These components work together to advance climate-resilient agricultural research, field demonstrations, funding for critical research areas, and training for scientists and stakeholders.

The project selects districts for technology demonstration based on their vulnerability to climate-related risks such as drought, cyclones, floods, heat waves, and cold waves. The selection criteria consider factors like drought proneness, cyclone frequency, flood proneness, and the actual incidence of droughts and floods in the districts.

The VCRMCs play a crucial role in the technology demonstration component. They follow a participatory approach to finalize location-specific interventions in the village panchayats based on the climate-related problems identified through village surveys. This ensures local ownership and convergence with other related schemes in the panchayat.

The main research themes under the strategic research component include assessment of major production zones, linking weather-based agro-advisories, developing climate-resilient crop varieties and livestock breeds, monitoring greenhouse gases, evolving adaptation and mitigation plans, studying environmental changes in pests and pathogens, and developing strategies for livestock adaptation.

The NICRA project focuses on capacity building through training programs organized in India and by sponsoring scientists to attend training programs abroad. These programs cover topics such as simulation modelling, phenotyping, and greenhouse gas measurement. Additionally, the project has organized over 100 training programs for 50,000 farmers to raise awareness about climate change and variability.

Some unique features of the NICRA scheme include strengthening network research on adaptation and mitigation, setting up phenotype platforms and climate-controlled facilities, expanding research on climate-sensitive crops, water availability planning at the basin level, establishing a national pest and disease monitoring system, strengthening crop simulation and downscaling modelling capabilities, and piloting district/block-level agromet advisory services during extreme weather events.

The NICRA project provides sponsored and competitive grants to support research in critical areas such as the impact on plant pollinators, fisheries in estuarine habitats, hail storm management, hill and mountain ecosystems, small ruminants, and socio-economic aspects of climate change.

The overall expected outcome of the NICRA project is to improve the resilience of agricultural production to climate variability in vulnerable regions of India. This is achieved through the development of new and improved varieties of crops, livestock breeds, management practices, and inputs for creating policies on climate-resilient agriculture in developmental planning.

For further information about the NICRA project, interested parties can contact the Deputy Director General (Natural Resource Management) at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) or the Director (A) at ICAR-CRIDA in Hyderabad. Additionally, Principal Investigators, Directors of participating ICAR Institutes, and Zonal Project Directorates (ZPDs) can be contacted for information about their specific activities under the project.