Location : ICRISAT
Date : 2025-09-15 13:30:00
ICRISAT is launching a short course entitled, “Transforming Dryland Agriculture and Agri-food Systems” that will inspire students and learner participants at ICRISAT to champion for the cause of transforming dryland agriculture through an holistic and integrated understanding of agri-food systems research for development in the drylands.
The course will be offered in person for the Learner participants who are currently enrolled at ICRISAT for their internship or Masters study program and any staff grade 7 and below.
Through in-person two hour lectures and hands-on experiences per week , running for 12 weeks, the course will build the competencies needed to repurpose the way dryland agriculture can be transformed. The course takes around twenty four hours to complete over a three month period and after a final quiz, participants will be awarded a certificate of completion.
This short course is focused on providing participants with the knowledge and skills necessary for transforming dryland agriculture including crop breeding, farm and food systems, nutrition, women’s empowerment, agricultural practices and policies to make them more resilient to arid and semi-arid conditions, increasing productivity, and ensuring sustainable livelihoods to dryland agriculture. Dryland communities need champions to support this wave of transformation; but there is a huge gap between awareness and capacity to implement sustainable dryland management interventions.
The schedule of the course is outlined below.
|
Sl.no |
Date |
Time |
Talk |
Resource Person / Facilitator |
|
|
1 |
15 September, 2025 Auditorium |
1.30 pm to 2.00 pm
2.00 to 2.10 pm 2.10 – 3.30 pm
|
Welcome and introduction Inauguration of the course by the Director General and inspirational remarks, welcoming the guests
Overview of the course Campus tour |
Padmaja R
Dr Himanshu Pathak
Padmaja R Arun Balmatti |
|
|
2 |
25 September |
1.00 to 3.00 pm
|
Introduction to crop breeding; gene bank and Breeding for crops |
Kuldeep Singh and SK Gupta |
|
|
3 |
09 October
|
1.00 to 3.00 pm |
Genebank visit, visit to fields and RGA facility |
Vetriventhan, Prakash Ganga Shetty; Sobhan |
|
|
4 |
16 October
|
1.00 to 3.00 pm |
Plant health – Entomology, pathology, Insect musuem |
Rajan Sharma |
|
|
5 |
23 October
|
1.00 to 3.00 pm |
Landscape conservation, water soil and nutrients; physiology |
Ramesh Singh
|
|
|
6 |
30 October
|
1.00 to 3.00 pm |
Introduction to AI/ML concepts |
Srikanth Rupavataram and team |
|
|
7 |
06 November
|
1.00 to 3.00 pm |
ABI and AIP - visit - Value addition, processing and Value chains |
Dinesh and team |
|
|
8 |
13 November
|
1.00 to 3.00 pm |
Socio-economic dimensions in research |
Shalander and team
|
|
|
9 |
20 November
|
1.00 to 3.00 pm |
Group discussion/team building session |
HR |
|
|
10 |
27 November
|
1.00 to 2.00 pm |
IPR concepts and patenting |
Suryamani |
|
|
|
|
2.00 to 3.00 pm |
Hands-on training on Photography, video communication
|
Communications
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
11 |
4 December
|
9.00 am to 4.00 pm
|
Village immersion – qualitative and quantitative data collection experience - travel to any one VDSA location or nearby village |
EST |
|
|
12 |
05-10 December 11 December
|
Online quiz opens 1.00 to 2.00 pm
|
Results on Quiz |
LSU with inputs from all scientists |
|
|
|
|
2.00 to 3.00 pm
|
Closing day, award of certificates
|
LSU, DG, DDG-R and Scientists
|
|
