Need robust data, information systems for dryland agri-food systems: Experts

New Delhi, Sep 13

Government officials and experts have stressed the need for robust data and information systems for dryland agri-food systems, as well as common innovation grounds or living laboratories that connect research with practice and policy, an official statement said on Sunday.

The three-day ‘Dryland Congress 2026’ concluded here, with a call for greater South–South and triangular cooperation to accelerate solutions for dryland agriculture.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, the final day coincided with the United Nations Day for South–South Cooperation and culminated in the adoption of the Delhi Declaration on Drylands (3D), setting out a shared agenda for transforming dryland agriculture through collaboration, knowledge exchange, innovation and collective action across Global South.

Dr ML Jat, Secretary, DARE and Director General, ICAR, emphasised the need to bring foresight to the centre of efforts on dryland agriculture.

Calling for a strong institutional mechanism, he stated that the ICAR-National Institute of Agricultural Economics and Policy Research (ICAR-NIAP) should be mandated to lead foresight work on dryland agriculture.

Dr Himanshu Pathak, Director General, ICRISAT, underlined the strategic importance of drylands for global food security and called for the deliberations of the past three days to be translated into concrete action.

He emphasised the need to distil the deliberations and prioritise them into short- and long-term actions, moving from ideas to concepts and from concepts to concrete action and implementation by bringing together expertise, knowledge and camaraderie.

Moreover, new agreements and memoranda of understanding were announced with the Global Crop Diversity Trust.

The Co-Chairs of the Congress, Dr D.K. Yadava, DDG (Crop Science), ICAR, and Dr Stanford Blade, DDG (Research and Innovation), ICRISAT, presented a summary of the three-day deliberations and highlighted key outcomes and recommendations emerging from the conference, said the statement.

The Congress also witnessed the presentation of the ISSCA Global Awards 2026, an annual flagship initiative recognising proven agricultural innovations from institutions across the Global South with strong potential for scale and cross-country adaptation.