Capability Statement 2023
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Capability
Statement
ICRISAT and 50 Years of Impact
ICRISAT Capability Statement 2022
Overview
Foreword
Dr Prabhu Pingali
Chair, ICRISAT Governing Board
Dr Jacqueline d’Arros Hughes
Director General, ICRISAT
ICRISAT is proud to be celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2022, which was inaugurated in early
February by the Hon. Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi. The Institute’s illustrious
history has been one defined by scientific research and partnerships which have delivered
numerous world firsts in reforming dryland agri-food systems. These breakthroughs are among
the most tangible impacts of all development interventions in overcoming poverty, hunger,
malnutrition and environmental degradation for many of the 2.1 billion who call the drylands
of Asia, Africa and beyond home. The awarding of the Africa Food Prize 2021 to ICRISAT is
a testament to our impacts and contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals. The
challenges facing the drylands are inextricably linked so our focus lies not only within the domain
of agricultural science, technology and innovation but the social, institutional and structural
requirements of smallholder dryland farming. Our work also has a nation building imperative.
From playing a passive role in economic development, the agricultural sector and the rural economy must now have a strong
and dynamic role in the overall economic development strategy of developing nations. As a global knowledge leader, ICRISAT
looks to the next 50 years with confidence that a brighter future can be created for the myriad of dryland communities whom we
serve. We invite you to partner with us on this journey.
ICRISAT’s unique expertise in the management of dryland ecosystems and genetic
improvement of nutritious grain legumes and dryland cereals that tolerate the vagaries
of climate change, make it an essential partner for research and development to achieve
the SDG targets. ICRISAT’s expertise spans traditional concerns such as malnutrition and
rural poverty to emerging concerns such as diet transition and climate resilience. ICRISAT’s
reimagined strategy elevates its work and positions its science, talent, partnerships and
resources in order to maximize impact on the sustainable utilization of dryland ecosystems
and the poor that depend on them. As we celebrate our 50th Anniversary we extend to you a
cordial invitation to join our mission.
1975
Prime Minister of
India, Indira Gandhi
lays ICRISAT’s
foundation stone
at the Patancheru
campus, India
1972
Establishment
of ICRISAT
1985
ICRISAT’s world first
sorghum and pearl
millet varieties are
released for farming
in Sudan leading to
improved crop yields
1996
ICRISAT
developed the
world’s first
early-maturing
groundnut variety
ICGV 86015
2011
An ICRISAT-led
team maps
the pigeonpea
genome - 48,680
pigeonpea genes
are identified
1979
The first Farmer’s Day
is held to showcase
ICRISAT’s impacts in
India
1991
ICRISAT developed the pearl
millet variety Okashana 1
for large-scale cultivation in
Namibia, contributing to better
food security
2008
ICRISAT developed the
world’s first commercial
pigeonpea hybrid ICPH
2671 released in India
ICRISAT Capability Statement 2022
Mission
ICRISAT’s mission is to reduce poverty, hunger, malnutrition and
environmental degradation in the dryland tropics.
2016
The first genome
code for cultivated
groundnut is
mapped
2017
ICRISAT led the
sequencing of
the pearl millet
genome
2021
ICRISAT receives the
prestigious Africa
Food Prize for its work
in improving and
disseminating legume
varieties for enhanced food
security in sub-Saharan
Africa
2013
High-iron biofortified pearl millet
variety Dhanashakti developed
by ICRISAT is released in India to
address micronutrient deficiency
2016
ICRISAT bred first machine-
harvestable chickpea variety
NBeG 47 released in India
reducing manual drudgery
2018
Africa’s first biofortified pearl
millet variety chakti developed
by ICRISAT is released by
the Government of Niger for
commercial cultivation
Vision
Prosperous, food-secure and resilient drylands.
Value Proposition
ICRISAT brings scientific, evidence-based solutions to agriculture and food systems in the drylands with
a special focus on sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. The Institute is recognized as a global knowledge leader
and holds 50 years of multi-disciplinary knowledge, experience and expertise in solving some of the most
pressing issues facing the drylands. The Institute has a wide range of global, regional and local networks
and an inclusive partnership approach to developing innovations to deliver at scale.
ICRISAT Capability Statement 2022
About us
The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics
(ICRISAT) is a pioneering, international scientific research for
development organization, specializing in improving dryland farming
and agri-food systems. The Institute was established as an international
organization in 1972, by a Memorandum of Agreement between the
Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research and the
Government of India.
ICRISAT works with global partners to develop innovative science-
backed solutions to overcome hunger, malnutrition, poverty and
environmental degradation, serving the 2.1 billion people who reside
in the drylands of Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and beyond. The Institute is
headquartered in Hyderabad, Telangana, India and has regional centers
in Mali and Kenya, with dedicated research stations in Niger, Nigeria,
Malawi, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Tanzania and Senegal.
ICRISAT’s areas of specialization include:
•
A deep understanding of the issues and challenges inherent in the drylands
which exhibit some of the harshest environments globally. These socio-
physical environments contribute to consistently low human development
outcomes and pose profound challenges to attaining the UN Sustainable
Development Goals.
•
A focus on the most resilient, climate smart and nutritious legumes and cereal
crops critical to the drylands – chickpea, pigeonpea, groundnut, sorghum, pearl
millet, finger millet and small millets.
•
A collection of one of the broadest diversities of genetic resources of our
speciality crops which are used to enhance the crops with which we work.
•
Recognized world class research across a wide array of specialities ranging
from genomics, gene editing, modern crop breeding, natural resource
management, seed systems, climate smart agriculture, digital solutions to
informing policy on improved markets and institutions.
•
A web / value chain approach with vast experience across agricultural
production systems and food value chains.
•
A strong focus on delivery and innovations at scale.
•
A profound understanding of the interventions required to attain the UN
Sustainable Development Goals related to our mission.
ICRISAT Capability Statement 2022
ICRISAT Capability Statement 2022
Our Research Approach
ICRISAT undertakes advanced scientific agricultural research to overcome poverty, hunger, malnutrition and environmental
degradation to improve the livelihoods and well-being of more than 2.1 billion people who call the drylands home. The
challenges in the drylands are inextricably linked, and thus the Institute adopts a holistic approach to overcoming them. The
Institute has a particular focus on social inclusion and empowering women along the agricultural value chain.
For 50 years, ICRISAT’s expertise has delivered world firsts that continue
to have global impacts on reducing hunger, poverty, malnutrition and
environmental degradation for local communities across Asia and Africa.
Our work is framed by the Sustainable Development Goals with a particular
focus on Goals 1, 2, 5, 13 and 17.
ICRISAT’s research approach includes:
A systems perspective to ensure the
most pressing issues are addressed
A multi-disciplinary approach
to opportunities and to finding
solutions to challenges
A focus on local, regional and
global partnerships across regions
to maximize knowledge sharing,
capacity building and solutions for
our stakeholders
A market-oriented focus to making
farming more profitable
A focus on environmental and
business sustainability models
A commitment to evidence-based
solutions
A participatory approach and
integrating training and capacity
building with key stakeholders
ICRISAT Capability Statement 2022
Addressing Climate Change
Climate change is arguably one of the greatest challenges facing agricultural production in the
drylands of Africa, Asia and other parts of the world where crop seasons are short and rainfall is
highly variable. ICRISAT works with multiple partners to develop climate resilient dryland crops
through an array of climate-smart technologies.
Overcoming Poverty
We create long-term science-backed solutions to overcoming poverty in the drylands by helping
smallholder farmers transition from subsistence farming to surplus farming and making farming
more profitable.
Championing Gender Equality
ICRISAT recognizes that women make up more than half the work force in smallholder dryland
farming. Gender is a cross cutting theme across all of our work with the aim of empowering women
in social and economic participation and decision making at all levels.
Partnerships
ICRISAT leverages strategic partnerships to capitalize on the natural synergies and expertise
between organizations for greater impact. One of our strengths is the depth and diversity of our
partnerships across the public and private sectors.
Overcoming Hunger and Malnutrition
Central to ICRISAT’s work is overcoming hunger, especially among the most vulnerable. Our
scientific research is designed to increase both nutritional quality and quantity of food available
through increased crop yields.
ICRISAT Capability Statement 2022
Research Specialities
As an international knowledge leader in dryland agri-food systems, our scientific expertise and non-partisan approach is
globally recognized as having produced world firsts and resulted in some of the most innovative solutions to overcoming
hunger, poverty, malnutrition and environmental degradation.
ICRISAT’s research impacts span the entire value chain:
Germplasm, pre-breeding,
breeding and seed systems
Enriching cultivated crop gene pool
diversity by utilizing distantly related
germplasm such as exotic landraces
and crop wild accessions.
Introgression of genes/quantitative
trait loci (QTLs) to enhance
productivity, biotic and abiotic stress
tolerances, nutrition and climate
resilience.
Identifying consumer-preferred and
demand-driven traits to develop
crop product profiles for targeted
breeding.
Optimizing and deploying novel
breeding methods to develop
superior varieties and adopting speed
breeding technology/rapid generation
advancement technology.
Working with national partners
to release improved varieties and
developing and evaluating more
efficient and cost-effective seed
supply options through better
institutional arrangements.
Genomics, systems biology
and crop informatics
Developing genomic resources, low-
cost genotyping technologies and
decision support tools.
Identifying valuable and novel alleles
and haplotypes with traits for climate
resilience, nutrition, and consumer
preferences.
Multi-omics approaches to
understanding the mechanisms of
complex traits for crop breeding.
Machine learning to integrate data
from multiple sources to develop
predictive models.
Genome editing and
molecular biology
Genome edited approaches and
gene editing for intractable traits in
ICRISAT’s mandate crops.
Developing protocols for generating
double haploids and other new
breeding tools and technologies.
Crop physiology, crop
protection and modelling
The use of modelling tools
and precise, high-throughput
phenotyping to identify drought
and heat tolerance traits to assist in
breeding for difficult environments
and future climate predictions.
New, innovative and environment-
friendly methods for crop protection,
including the use of non-invasive
techniques for phenotyping and the
application of nanomaterials.
Tracking the emergence of new
diseases and pathogen variability for
existing and emerging diseases.
Enabling modelling tools to assess
cropping system productivity under a
variety of conditions.
Socioeconomics
System dynamics modelling to
analyze food chain complexity,
mapping and assessing efficiencies
in agricultural value chains/web
and understanding the behavioral
dimensions of the dynamic linkages
between agri-food value chains and
nutrition.
Ex-ante assessments and scenario
development to estimate the
economic and other value of future
and emerging crop traits linked
to market demand for breeding
prioritization.
Studying value chain and food
systems to support biofortification
and the integration of emerging
high value traits (e.g. high-oleic acid
groundnut) through demand creation
and value chain development.
Studying developing markets and
institutions for a more productive
agriculture sector.
Systems-based sustainable
natural resource management
Watershed and community-based
approaches to scaling water
harvesting, land restoration and
livelihood interventions.
Scaling climate-smart agricultural
interventions linked to climate risk
assessments.
System behaviour predictions and
designing appropriate interventions
to increase crop quantity and quality.
ICRISAT Capability Statement 2022
Digital innovations and
technologies
Creating new opportunities to
integrate smallholders into digitally
supported agri-food systems.
Applying information, communication
and digital technologies to bring
innovations to extension systems,
farm management, climate risk
adaptation and markets.
Geospatial and big data
Mapping dryland areas, crops and
cropping systems and developing
spatial products, climate analysis
to predict future responses, land
degradation assessment, yield and
yield loss assessments.
Interdisciplinary research
The challenges inherent in the
drylands are multifaceted and
inextricably linked. In response,
ICRISAT adopts a systemwide
approach through its interdisciplinary
research as the most effective way
to tackle complex challenges. Some
areas include climate resilience,
nutrition and natural resource
management.
Crop diversification
ICRISAT’s work on crop diversification
hinges on three objectives: improving
livelihood options for the farmer,
the effective use of scarce water
resources and sustainability.
The ICRISAT developed Sahelian Eco-
Farm is a cropping system in which
trees and/or shrubs are intercropped
with annual crops to combat soil
erosion, low soil fertility, low water
use efficiency, droughts, insufficient
supply of animal feed, low income
and inefficient distribution of labour.
Similarly, the African Market Garden -
a low-pressure drip irrigation system,
combined with a comprehensive
crop husbandry package - generates
income for small producers,
contributes to better nutrition and
helps mitigate the effects of climate
change.
Crop-livestock integration
The institute has an extensive track
record in improving the efficiency of
agronomic and livestock systems for
better resilience. ICRISAT-bred forage
crops, dual purpose crops and multi-
cut varieties offer a means to address
fodder shortages and improve
livelihoods in dryland farming
communities.
In collaboration with the International
Livestock Research Institute (ILRI),
ICRISAT has carried out joint research
on livestock fodder derived from
sorghum, pearl millet, legumes and
groundnut. In Africa, ICRISAT works
to promote livestock production
through improved feed, animal health
linkages to market and capacity
development of farmers.
Biofuels
The use of sorghum and pearl millet
as feedstock for commercial biofuel
production presents a market
opportunity for drylands farmers.
ICRISAT, with its partners, has been
working on the development of a
sweet sorghum ethanol value chain.
As a result, sweet sorghum is now
an established biofuel feedstock in
India, China, Philippines and Brazil.
High-biomass pearl millet varieties
also present a huge opportunity as a
biofuel feedstock.
10
ICRISAT Capability Statement 2022
Sorghum
Sorghum is a genus of about twenty-five species of flowering plants in the grass family that produce edible and
nutritious grains. Some of these species are grown as cereals for human consumption and some in pastures for
animals. One species is grown for grain, while many others are used as fodder plants.
Varieties: 3.0 t/ha; Hybrids: 4.0 t/ha
Normal duration – 100 - 120 days to maturity
Current yield: 0.8 t/ha (varieties) 1.2 t/ha (hybrids)
333 varieties in 46 countries
(Map shows top 22 countries. Figures as of 2021)
Striga resistant
Midge resistant
Drought tolerant
Biofortifi ed (Fe/Zn)
Other traits
• Shoot fl y resistant
• Stem borer resistant
• Grain mold resistant
• Forage
• Biomass/ethanol
India: Seed consortium
1.1 million farmers benefi ted from improved cultivars
Short duration –
<100 days to maturity
Expansion of ICRISAT-origin material
Africa: 17,199.4 tons
Asia: 4,041 tons
21,240.4 tons
Forage sorghum hybrid CSH 24
MF is awarded ‘landmark forage
hybrid’ in India
2019
First ICRISAT variety released for
farming in India (Moti)
1978
ICSV 112 released in India as
CSV 13 and eventually released in
9 countries
1987
1999
Large-scale adoption of high-
yielding hybrid JKSH 22 by the
private sector
First marker-assisted bred sorghum
varieties that are Striga tolerant
released in sub-Saharan Africa
2012
World’s fi rst ethanol from
sweet sorghum (ICSV 25308
and RVICH28) produced from
ICRISAT-bred cultivars
2007
High biomass sorghum
(ICSSH 28) for production of biofuel
High iron and zinc variety
Parbhani Shakti released in India
3 high-yielding varieties (Pilara
3,4 and 5) released in Malawi
2016
2018
2020
World’s fi rst high-iron varieties
(SAMSORG 45 & SAMSORG 46)
released in Africa
2017
First ICRISAT variety released for
farming in Sudan (Hageen Dura)
Short-duration variety
Yield potential (rainfed areas)
Varieties/Hybrids developed
Crop Improvement
Milestones
Impacts
Varieties released from
ICRISAT-origin material
Seed Production by ICRISAT (2011-2021)
1983
Countries where the
varieties (including
hybrids) are released
Our speciality crops
For crop improvement, ICRISAT works to develop and enhance resilient, climate-smart and nutritious legume and cereal
crops including chickpea, pigeonpea, groundnut, sorghum, pearl millet, finger millet and small millets. These crops are
fundamental to food security in the drylands. At the systems level, ICRISAT also works on other important crops such as
soybean, sunflower, sesame, mustard, rapeseed. ICRISAT collaborates with partners on a wide range of cropping systems,
agroforestry and livestock.
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