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Thursday / November 7. 2024
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RAIN is designed to foster agricultural innovation and entrepreneurship, aiming to bolster India’s food security and promote sustainable practices in agriculture.

The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP) and the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to launch the Rural Agriculture Innovation Programme (RAIN).

RAIN is designed to foster agricultural innovation and entrepreneurship, aiming to bolster India’s food security and promote sustainable practices in agriculture. The initiative focuses on providing technologies for on-farm sustainable agriculture, enhancing production and quality control, and aiding farmers in diversifying their opportunities and adding value in line with global standards.

The program primarily focuses on small and marginalised farmers, particularly women, who contribute 60-90 per cent of the world’s rice cultivation. It also supports women-led fisheries enterprises to maintain sustainable yields, which are increasingly threatened by climate change. With climate change impacting yields, RAIN seeks to support these communities by offering solutions that address local challenges and improve agricultural productivity.

The RAIN initiative will begin with a four-fold focus on eco-harmony, which involves innovations in soil health and biodiversity; harvest-secure methods to minimize produce wastage; climate resilience strategies to withstand agricultural challenges; and cleantech and sanitation to enhance environmental and health standards.

Additionally, C-CAMP and MSSRF plan to collaborate at the Centre of Excellence for Agri Innovation, supported by the Government of Karnataka, and exchange technical and field support for validating technologies that are culturally suited to target areas. They will also launch a joint call for innovations in food, agriculture, pisciculture, animal husbandry, and related fields.

The partners are considering expanding the program to other states such as Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, and Kerala, and exploring CSR or public-private partnership opportunities to further their reach.

Dr Taslimarif Saiyed, Director-CEO of C-CAMP highlighted, “Agriculture and climate are closely interlinked. Due to climate change large parts of the world are becoming food insecure. RAIN with MSSRF comes at this crucial time so that we can build a joint innovation programme in India especially for the vulnerable communities in various ecologies in India, whether it be coastal, or small and marginalised farmers who will benefit from switching crops, etc. The aim is to increase agricultural productivity; identifying rural innovations; increased income for smallholder farmers; women empowerment in agriculture; and foremost local solutions to address local or micro pain points.”

Dr Soumya Swaminathan, Chairperson of MSSRF expressed, “Delighted to sign an MoU with C-CAMP, a real star in the innovation ecosystem. We will jointly work on the RAIN programme focusing on solving problems of small & marginal farmers through a science-based approach.”

RAIN is designed to foster agricultural innovation

The agreement will initiate a joint effort in nurturing deep-science innovation in agriculture

The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP), has signed a MoU with Centre for Food Technological Research Institute, CFTRI, in presence of Dr Jitendra Singh, Minister of Science and Technology, Government of India and Shobha Karandlaje, Minister of Agriculture & Farmer’s Welfare, Government of India.

The agreement will initiate a joint effort in nurturing deep-science innovation in agriculture, food technology and allied areas towards sustainability and food security in India’s agri sector. It was formally inked by Dr Taslimarif Saiyed, CEO and Director of C-CAMP and Dr Sridevi Annapurna Singh, Director, CFTRI at the third edition of the ongoing TechBharat Conclave in Mysore.

On the occasion of the signing Dr Saiyed said, “We are delighted to formalise this pact with CFTRI, India’s leading food technology research institute. The agreement will identify and foster agri innovations and agri entrepreneurships led by the twin pillars of deep-science and sustainability.”

The ministers acknowledged the contribution by both organisations in the development of agritech and agri entrepreneurships in India and appreciated this effort of unifying ecosystems for greater impact.
The new signing is envisioned to augment C-CAMP’s current efforts in Agritech and allied space under its recently launched Centre of Excellence for Agri Innovation in collaboration with the Govt of Karnataka. It will also strengthen science-based entrepreneurships in the CSIR affiliated CFTRI.

The agreement will initiate a joint effort