India Region

ICAR – NIRCA Formation Day

23 January 2025, New Delhi: The Chief Guest, Mr. Bhupathi Raju Srinivasa Varma, Union Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Steel unveiled the new logo and renamed the building as ICAR-NIRCA. In his address, Mr. Varma emphasized the transformation of the institute towards supporting a variety of commercial crops, including turmeric, chili, castor, and ashwagandha, alongside its traditional focus on tobacco. This shift aims to significantly benefit Indian farmers, offering them new avenues in post-harvest processes, value addition, and overall economic sustainability. He also highlighted the vision of Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi to double farmers’ incomes through value addition and commercialization.

Dr. T.R. Sharma, Deputy Director General (Crop Sciences) expressed satisfaction over ICAR-NIRCA’s decades-long research excellence in tobacco. Dr. Sharma inaugurated the Genome Editing Laboratory at the Crop Improvement Division and examined tobacco plants developed through genome editing techniques. Additionally, he inaugurated ‘NIRCA’s NEST,’ an outlet for selling value-added products derived from turmeric and ashwagandha. Dr. Sharma emphasized the importance of collecting, characterizing, and utilizing genetic resources of new crops for value addition and directed scientists to focus on basic research, particularly in microbiome studies and climate resilience.

Dr. M. Sheshu Madhav, Director, ICAR-NIRCA, presented ongoing and future research plans aligned with the Viksit Bharat Action Plan.

A publication titled “Redefining Research: Transformation from CTRI to NIRCA” was also released on this occasion.

Scientists from various ICAR institutes and universities, agricultural and horticultural department officials, farmers from Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, representatives from NGOs, stakeholders, and industry members participated in the event and shared their views on the future of commercial agriculture.

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