1. Collaborative R & D
in Crops & Horticulture
ICAR – CII Industry Meet 2011
23th May 2011
Nirmal Reddy
GM (Agri Services)
ITC Ltd ABD

2. R & D Challenges
 Meeting Food and Nutritional security and be
globally competitive in evolving scenarios of;
 Higher and Changing consumption demand due
to rising incomes
 Right to Food Security & Inclusive growth
 Climate change & Efficient Natural Resources
Management
 Global Trade policies
Imperatives : Produce more food per acre and
More output per rupee spent

3. Why Collaborate ?
 Leverage stakeholders strengths to meet common objectives of
increasing productivity and capturing value in chain
Public Private
Vast pool of scientists & Management pool with better
knowledge understanding of markets
World class infrastructure in Commercialize faster benefiting all stake
research, academics & training holders
Unparallel genetic resource Capability to bridge the gap from lab to
collection & research output farms
Appropriate Policy Framework to facilitate Public-Private Collaboration
in R & D, Capacity Building and Extension

4. Who are the Stakeholders ?
 Research fraternity
 Academicia and Trainers
 Traditional knowledge experts, Farmers
 Trade & Industry
 Policy Makers
Mechanism to be created for free flow of exchange of
information and arrive at a consensus on the way
forward in search for innovative solutions

5. How do we Collaborate ?
 Prioritise Research objectives jointly
 Clear setting of objectives for each stage of
R&D
 Exploratory
 Fast track
 Commercialization
 Pooling of resources
 Accountability
 Appropriability of research benefits

6. Issues
 Mode of Sharing of Resources
 Genetic material, Funds and Talent capital
 Patents / Intellectual Property Rights
 Policy on Genetically Modified Food crops
Clear, articulated and structured policy with
transparent processes to ensure achieving planned
goals protecting all stake holders interests

7. Research requirements : Crops
 New Varieties and Hybrids
 Low seed replacement rates in Food crops like Wheat, Jowar, Oilseeds and Pulses etc
 Climate Change & Abiotic stresses
 Varieties that can adjust to early and late rains and crop duration thereof in Soya,
Wheat, Paddy etc
 End product Quality specific varieties
 High gluten wheats (Sharbati) and bakery products
 Shelf life of Millets and Multi grain products for nutritional benefits
 Integrated Nutrition Management
 Optimum fertilizer application and soil fertility management
 Integrated Pest Management
 Pest resistant varieties, Judicious application and residue elimination
 Extension education & training
 Evolving new media and farmers awareness for delivering customised advisories
Synchronized delivery of all components of technologies along with Inputs

8. Research requirements :
Horticulture
 End product specific quality in crop
 Processing varieties of Potato
 Dry matter, disease resistance and agro climatic adaptability
 High brix, high colour with high yields in Tomato
 Import substitution and high potential for meeting global demand
 Policy framework to facilitate commercialisation of exotic varieties after
adaptive trials to local agro climatic conditions within IPR regime
 Adaptability for storage and processing
 IQF processing : Mango, Pomegranate
 Natural ripening : Mango, Banana
 Farm Mechanization
 Covering entire gamut of sowing till harvest and post harvest activities
for all crops

9. Suggestions/ Way forward
 Synchronised delivery
 Integrate Research and Extension with the value chains
 Power of partnerships
 Create a culture of trust and institutionalize processes for
aligning Public Private enterprises for common good
 Leveraging the financial assistance
 Dovetail with development programs; NREGP and RKVY
 Include social capital and decentralise decision
making
 For research areas identification along with extension
needs at block level/ district level planning

10. Thank You