India

India faces very significant problems in its rural sector, even as the overall economy forges ahead. Indeed, the greatest number of poor and undernourished people in any country (approximately 300 million) is found in India, and most live in rural areas. At the same time India faces trade liberalisation and rapid diversification of diets towards high-value agricultural products.

ACIAR's collaborative program in India has evolved into a tightly focused suite of projects in three subprograms. These take into account national agricultural priorities and the key themes through which agricultural research in the two countries can achieve synergies. The Government of India is also encouraging donors to work with independent research organisations and non-government organisations (NGOs). Partnerships with NGOs will help increase emphasis on achieving practical farmer-level impacts, particularly in poorer regions. Involvement of independent policy institutions and their linkage to central and state government departments will also increase the likelihood of policy impacts.

India has a large and well-developed national agricultural research system. The Indian Council for Agricultural Research has several major programs, including the World Bank-funded National Agriculture Innovation Programme and the US-India Agriculture Knowledge Initiative, both of which share similar research priorities with the ACIAR program. ACIAR will maximise collaboration in areas of Australian expertise as well as in areas where both India and Australia have strong common interests and potential for field-level and trade impacts in both countries. ACIAR will engage mainly with researchers in the main wheat growing states (Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh) and the Indian central plateau (Andhra Pradesh, with outreach to Karnataka, Maharashtra and West Bengal). Projects will help India manage scarce water and nutrient resources more efficiently, improve yield and quality of cereals and oilseeds, diversify production and raise farm incomes. Rainfed cropping systems in central and eastern India are prone to the effects of seasonal climate variability and, in the long term, impacts of climate change. India is one of four partner countries involved in ACIAR's climate change adaptation initiative designed for implementation during 2009-10.

A number of International Agricultural Research Centres (IARCs) are also active in India. The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), with headquarters in Hyderabad, has strong programs on peanut, sorghum, millet and chickpea, as well as crop-- livestock systems (with the International Livestock Research Institute,(ILRI)) and soil management in the semi-arid tropics. The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) have significant regional activities in India, many connected with the rice-wheat eco-regional initiative. The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) has a joint program on policy issues, with an Indian research institute and other biophysical programs in India. ACIAR supports projects with these IARCs.