Institutional Innovation for Agri-technology Dissemination and Resource Management: Assessment of Country-wide Experience Kumar Shalandera, Venkateswarlu B.b, Chand Khema, Roy M.M.a aCentral Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur – 342 003, Rajasthan bCentral Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad – 500 059, Andhra Pradesh Online published on 9 October, 2012. Abstract The paper has assessed the institutional innovations adpted in the programme that was initiated in 2010 to make Indian agriculture more climate resilient through location-specific adaptation and mitigation strategies by organizing farmers participatory technology demonstrations in a cluster of villages in each of the 100 most vulnerable districts representing all agro-climatic regions of the country as part of National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) launched by Indian Council of Agricultural Research. The appraisal of climate-related stresses of the selected village agriculture and options for climate change adaptation were identified in a participatory manner. One farm machinery custom hiring centre (FMCC) was established in each of the 98 districts spread over 26 states of the country. This has not only helped in greater adoption of technologies, particularly for resource conservation through zero till seeding, timely sowing, harvesting, soil and water conservation and its utilization but has also led to better adaptation to climatic variability and change. It has enabled building capacity of the farmers to manage institutions and resources and get timely access to information. Fodder bank and seed bank were other major interventions, but their success has been limited due to different reasons. Based on project experience, the paper has also delved on strategies for effective delivery of agritechnology and inputs. For up scaling such successful experiences, the paper has emphasized on the need for convergence at village/block/district level through on-going government programmes. Top Keywords Institutional innovations, agri-technology, climate change, zeo tillage, farm machinery custom hiring. Top |