International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics:
The International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) launched a new Centre of Excellence for transformation of agriculture in developing countries through South-South cooperation.
- International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics was established under a Memorandum of Agreement between the Government of India and the CGIAR on 28 March 1972.
- It is a non-profit, non-political public international research organisation that conducts agricultural research for development in Asia & sub-Saharan Africa.
- ICRISAT’s vision is a prosperous, food-secure and resilient dryland tropics.
- It is dedicated to combating poverty and uplifting the livelihoods of communities in the dryland regions it serves.
- It helps farmers by providing improved crop varieties and hybrids and also helps smallholder farmers in the drylands fight climate change.
- It conducts research on five highly nutritious drought-tolerant crops: chickpea, pigeonpea, pearl millet, sorghum, and groundnut.
- It has been awarded the 2021 Africa Food Prize for the Tropical Legumes Project that has improved food security across 13 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
- It is headquartered in Hyderabad, Telangana State, in India, with two regional hubs (Nairobi, Kenya and Bamako, Mali).
