CRIDA is a National Research Institute under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) established in 1985 with a mandate to carry out basic and applied research in rainfed farming.  The Institute also undertakes National International Collaborations and Consultancy Projects.   All India Coordinated Research Programmes (AICRPs) of ICAR on Dryland Agriculture and Agrometeorology with 25 partners each are in CRIDA. This is the lead Institute and the National Nodal point for the National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) which is being implemented at large number of Research Institutes of ICAR, State Agricultural Universities and 100 KVKs.To give further fillip to the dryland research by understanding and defining the crop growth related weather factors and issues, the All India Coordinated Research Project on Agrometeorology (AICRPAM) was set up in May 1983 with ten cooperating centres located in different State Agricultural Universities (SAUs). Currently, AICRPAM has 25 centres.

 

Dryland Agriculture in India  

          

Out of the 142 million (m) ha cultivated area in the country, only 51 m ha is irrigated.  Even after complete exploitation of the full irrigation potential of the country, it is estimated that nearly 70 m ha of net sown area will continue to depend upon monsoons.  Rainfed areas produce approximately 20-25 m t rice, 2-3 m t wheat, 30-35 m t coarse cereals, and 10-12 m t pulses, thus contributing nearly 65-75 m t food grains and 12-14 m t oilseeds besides significant quantities of cotton, vegetables, and fruits. 

The modest beginning of AICRPDA and its significant contributions in exploring the possibilities of doubling productivity of dryland prompted the establishment of a full fledged research institute - Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA) at Hyderabad in 1985 to embark upon lead and strategic research in dryland agriculture leaving location/region specific problems and their solutions to AICRPDA. With the launching of the National Agricultural Technology Project (NATP) by the Council during the year 1998, CRIDA was further strengthened with the responsibility of planning and coordinating research on a production system mode under the rainfed agro-eco system.