India - Country Strategy

1. Overview [1]
2. Country Strategy [2]
3. Priorities [3]
4. Key Program Managers [4]
5. Current Projects [5]
6. Concluded Projects [6]
7. Achievements [7]
8. Relevant Publications [8]
9. Country News and Stories [9]
10. Project Locations [10]
11. Country Office [11]
12. Country Portfolio [12]
13. AusAid and Other Briefs [13]
14. Fellowship Statistics [14]

Country Strategy

In India's main wheat-growing areas, the emphasis of ACIAR's India program will shift from maintaining sustainability of wheat-based cropping systems to improving productivity of wheat by developing new varieties resistant to major biotic and abiotic stresses. This will be achieved through the application of marker-assisted selection as a tool to achieve greater efficiencies in wheat breeding. This theme will be delivered through a joint 5-year program to be implemented from 2008 and co-funded by the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) and ACIAR. In the less favoured areas of India's rainfed Central Plateau, a second program will address broadscale land and water resource management. This program will apply technical, economic and policy research approaches to increase water productivity, and will have an increasing focus on climate issues. Project design principles include the involvement of farmers and NGOs, and engagement with policymakers with a view to achieving quicker impact.

More general policy analysis work at the national and state levels will complement both themes, with a shift from standalone policy projects to integration of policy components into projects of the main two themes. This will include research into domestic agricultural policy and trade-related reform options.