A Journey to prosperity in the dryland tropics

A journey to prosperity in the dryland tropics

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Citation: A journey to prosperity in the dryland tropics. 2012. International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics: Patancheru 502 324, Andhra Pradesh, India. ISBN ???. 1?? pp.

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Contents Foreword. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 The 1970s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 The 1980s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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The 1990s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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The 2000s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Acronyms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 The Publication Team. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

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Foreword ICRISAT was the first international scientific institution to be set up after the formation of the CGIAR in 1971.

At its very first meeting held in 1971, the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) of the CGIAR recommended that an institution devoted to the improvement of the productivity, profitability and sustainability of semi-arid agriculture with particular reference to sorghum, pearl millet, chickpea and pigeonpea may be established. On my suggestion, water harvesting and watershed management were also added to the mandate of ICRISAT, since semi-arid agriculture will not be viable if there are no opportunities for crop life saving irrigation. Later, groundnut was also added to the mandate of ICRISAT. Thus, from 1972 onwards, the institute started contributing to both crop improvement and watershed management. In addition, socio-economic research was given priority since the success of technology diffusion would depend upon the socio-economic substrate of a region.

One of my first tasks after joining as the Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in January 1972 was to work with Dr Ralph Cummings in developing a Memorandum of Agreement with the Government of India concerning the establishment of ICRISAT. ICRISAT was the first institution of the CGIAR to be given the immunities and privileges associated with UN organizations by the Government of India, thereby indicating the importance of this Institute to the semi-arid farmers in India.

Even at the time of establishment of ICRISAT in Hyderabad, TAC had suggested that a link center should be established in sub-Saharan Africa. Such a Center was later established in Niger. Today ICRISAT’s work is making impact in the semi-arid tropics of all the continents. In particular, India, China, Myanmar, Vietnam, the Philippines, Niger, Mali, Nigeria, Kenya, Eritrea, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe are all deriving great benefit, thanks to their partnership with ICRISAT. ICRISAT’s work has also shown how the desert regions of Afghanistan can be converted into Oasis. ICRISAT has become a leader in translational research aimed to convert scientific findings into commercial products and ventures. Its “Inclusive Market-Oriented Development” approach has helped resource poor farmers to ensure the economic viability of small farm operations. The work in the field of producing improved varieties or hybrids of all the five major mandate crops has been truly impressive In recent years, ICRISAT has adopted the mission “science with a human face”. Such an approach has led to placing faces before figures and thereby has led to a human centerd pathway to agricultural research and development.

A successful institution is not made just of bricks. The success comes from the hard, dedicated and visionary work of both, the working scientists and other staff members as well as the top level management. ICRISAT has been fortunate to have had a succession of highly dedicated and visionary Directors General, beginning from Dr Ralph Cummings and extending to the present DG, Dr William Dar. I also wish to pay my tribute to all the Board Chairs and Trustees and donors for their support to this institution dedicated to the service of a majority of the 2 billion farmers of the world. The scholars, staff and scientists of ICRISAT can look back with pride and satisfaction on the achievements of the last forty years. Looking ahead, the institute has to play even a more important role in enabling humankind to achieve food and nutrition security in an era of climate change and under conditions of shrinking per capita availability of arable land and irrigation water and expanding biotic and abiotic stresses.

M S Swaminathan iv

Preface This year, ICRISAT celebrates its 40th anniversary marking four decades of commitment and dedicated service to the forgotten poor in the dryland tropics of the world. Especially in the last exciting and challenging decade, I am immensely honored and privileged to have served as ICRISAT’s Director General.

It had been a decade of change, accelerated growth, increased networking, global recognition, and agricultural impact in the regions that we touch.

As the leader of this Institute I feel it is just and right to recognize the creators, builders and maintainers who have laid the foundation, implemented the mandate, investigated the research impacts, spotted the gaps, and now continue to keep ICRISAT relevant and healthy. It is for this reason that I commissioned the preparation of our third history book.

Unlike the history books made for our 30th and 35th anniversaries, the present one is more a record of milestones in pictures, of photographic evidence and memories frozen in time. The publication team has made every effort to capture as many faces of staff members as possible. This book is a salute to the body of industrious workers, scientists, assistants, writers, artists, farm hands, mechanics, drivers, security personnel, cooks, financial services, partners, janitors, top level management and the Governing Board – each one serving an important function, the dedicated people who have strived for, and who are still striving to fulfill, the mission of the Institute conceived 40 years ago. The wording of the mission statement may have been slightly altered, the focus realigned with the changing needs of the time – but the spirit of service, and the enthusiasm and level of dedication remains unchanged.

ICRISAT has grown from an agricultural research institute to a center of excellence; from a place of searching to a place where knowledge and solutions are imparted. We don’t have all the answers, but we certainly have a clearer vision of our target. Using the knowledge base we have built, the availability of modern-day science facilities and tools, and the partnerships and networks that feed our confidence, ICRISAT is better equipped today than it was 40 years ago to “empower poor people to overcome poverty, hunger and a degraded environment”. We are grateful for the support and encouragement that has made this possible.

I hope you enjoy browsing through this book and that you feel as much pride and affection from the memories and inspiration it evokes as we have had in preparing it for you and for posterity. Thank you for being a part of the ICRISAT story.

William D. Dar Director General v

ICRISAT fields in the making. 1972.

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Background The First Decade (1970s) – The Birth of ICRISAT

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he International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) was the first international institute that was established under the auspices of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

As stated by ICRISAT’s first Director, Dr RW Cummings during ICRISAT’s 10th Anniversary celebration on 11 October 1982, “ICRISAT became a legally constituted bonafide, international institute on July 5, 1972. …”At the first meeting of the CGIAR’s Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) in mid-1971, a team was commissioned to address this segment of world agriculture and develop suggestions for action. The team quickly focused its attention on the seasonally dry semi-arid tropics, where sorghum and millet, along with a range of pulses, are the major components of the cropping pattern and the major staples in the diets of the people. The report and recommendations were completed and presented to TAC in October 1971, and were approved by the CGIAR in early December of the same year. ICRISAT’s approved mandate was to: • • • •

Serve as a world center to improve the genetic potential for grain yield and nutritional quality of sorghum, pearl millet, pigeonpea, chickpea and groundnut, Develop farming systems, which will help to increase and stabilize agricultural production through better use of natural and human resources in the seasonally dry semi-arid tropics, Identify socioeconomic and other constraints to agricultural development in the semi-arid tropics, and to evaluate alternative means of alleviating them through technological and institutional changes, and Assist national and regional research programs through cooperation and support, and to contribute further by sponsoring conferences, operating international training programs and assisting extension activities.

The First Year ICRISAT came into being on 5 July 1972 when its first Board met under the chairmanship of Dr Fred Bentley, who had also acted as CEO until then.

First Governing Board meeting. Standing (L to R): UK Rao, Rubens Vaz da Costa, T Swaminathan, DW Thorne, AR Melville, RW Cummings, Francis Bour, MH Mengesha, K Lampe. Sitting: RH Demuth, CF Bentley, MS Swaminathan, DL Umali.

ICRISAT had set the following priorities for the next 5-6 years: • • •

Evacuate the two selected villages and resettle the villagers elsewhere comfortably, in order to acquire land for the institute, Develop world-class research facilities and the experiment station, and Organize research programs and hire some of the best scientists in the world to lead them.

With the laying of the foundation stone by Mrs Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India, on 11 January 1975, the permanent research complex and headquarters of ICRISAT moved officially off the drawing boards and into the construction phase.

Said Mrs Gandhi, “I am very happy to be here today because we give great importance to this Institute and the work that it is undertaking.

I am glad to lay the foundation stone of the building complex of this Institute, which symbolizes the pooling of talents of scientists and technicians regardless of nationality, race or color, in this greatest of all wars, the war against hunger. The Government of India will continue to extend full support to the aims and programs of this Institute, and may I wish all of you success in your work.”

In a colorful ceremony on 18 February 1977 the Director, Ralph W Cummings took possession of three (albeit temporary) buildings on the campus. They were the Library Building, and two international staff houses subsequently occupied by Jacob Kampen and Bert Krantz.

ICRISAT farm in its initial stage.

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Dr Ralph W Cummings, after 20 years in international agriculture and 5 years as the Director of ICRISAT, retired from ICRISAT and its Governing Board in March 1977. Words cannot adequately describe all that he did for ICRISAT. To put it simply, he was just the best man that could have been found to put ICRISAT on the right road. His combined knowledge of international agricultural research and of India was unique.

Leslie D Swindale, aged 47, took over as the new Director, and led the Institute for the next 15 years.

Progress in the seventies Well laid-out agronomic experiments in 1972 were the beginning of the Farming Systems Program. These experiments were subsequently put into the watersheds with a land and water management perspective. Later came the intercropping perspective to the watersheds, which was hard to sell in the seventies but became very popular in the nineties.

On 18 December 1978, the Computer Services unit, established in 1975, moved from Banjara Hills in Hyderabad city to the Patancheru campus. This was the first unit to occupy the new office buildings, and it set the trend for other departments to move from their hitherto comfortable city offices to the new, though still dusty and noisy with ongoing construction, premises.

The ICRISAT Center at Patancheru was formally inaugurated by Prime Minister Charan Singh on 30 August 1979.

Ralph Cummings and Les Swindale inspecting the site map.

The seventies was a decade of great impact where research was concerned at ICRISAT. It was in this decade that ICRISAT scientists developed varieties, hybrids, breeding lines, and other material that resist pests and diseases, and also developed technologies that could be used by the dryland farmers.

In 1980, ICRISAT developed a new system of farming that enabled better rainy-season use of the deep vertisols (black soils) in areas of assured rainfall in India; millions of hectares of these lands, then left fallow in the rainy season, could produce two crops a year using the new technology. The technology included improvement in cropping patterns, varieties, fertilization, cultural practices, land and water management, and agricultural implements. The technology incorporated results of many years of research, some of it conducted even before ICRISAT came into being.

Genetic Resources One of ICRISAT’s most remarkable achievements in Genetic Resources is the vast collection of germplasm from all corners of the globe. A world repository for the genetic resources of the mandate crops, ICRISAT’s collection has come a long way since the genebank was started in January 1979 with short-term storage facilities. The genebank also holds several hundred accessions of the wild relatives of ICRISAT’s mandate crops. The collected material, now over 119,000 accessions, shows an amazing range of variability in color, shape, maturity and useful traits – traits that can be used to create much improved varieties.

Training The training program, expanded in 1976 with several groups of trainees from five Francophone African nations and a large number of Research Fellows (essentially postgraduates who worked toward their PhD degrees in collaborating universities), started work at ICRISAT under the direction of the Institute’s scientists. Training is still one of ICRISAT’s major contributions to world agriculture.

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Prime Minister Gandhi with Lord Ganesha.

The Second decade (1980s) – Decade of Excellence This was the period when the Institute’s activities were at its peak. The financial position was very strong and several donor agencies were appreciative and eager to invest an increasing amount of funds into the Institute’s research work. Easy availability of funds resulted in substantial expansion of the research work. More and more projects and programs were added, and more staff members were recruited.

Reaching out to the world ICRISAT has a global mandate with a major role to play in Africa, because large parts of the continent fall within the semi-arid tropics.

ICRISAT’s program in Africa, supported by UNDP, started in 1975. By the end of 1976, 14 scientists were placed to work in the Sahelian zone of West Africa with active support form UNDP and USAID. Scientists were placed in two more Sahelian countries and in Sudan. The project headquarters was at Dakar, Senegal to coordinate the efforts in the Sudano-Sahelian zone of Africa. The program gained momentum in 1977 and 13 countries were involved in the coordinated research activities. ICRISAT scientists at this time were basically posted at national programs, as ICRISAT did not have any facility of its own.

RW Cummings inaugurating the Trainee Hostel at Road 5, Banjara Hills, Hyerabad on 19 April 1974.

In 1981, through an agreement with the Government of Niger, work on the establishment of its Sahelian Center on a 500-ha site, about 35 km south of Niamey, was started. This would be the base for work on millets and groundnut and on farming systems in the Sahelian region of Africa.

Extension in sub-Saharan Africa 1981 was also the year when a beginning was made to extend the work to southern Africa.

ICRISAT responded to SADCC (a group of nine southern African states, called the Southern African Development Coordination Conference) when the Heads of the Governments met at Lusaka and requested ICRISAT to tackle the urgent need for improved production of food crops in the region. The first response was the program for groundnut improvement in Malawi, which got off the ground in 1982 with two scientists posted at Chitedze, near the capital city of Lilongwe, to find groundnut varieties resistant to rosette virus. The work got a breakthrough in the subsequent years, and covers the countries of Tanzania, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia and of course Malawi. This program was supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

The SADCC/SMIP (Sorghum and Millet Improvement Project) was formally launched in 1983 with USAID funding and started functioning from April 1984 at Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Construction work for the Bulawayo station started in 1986 and was completed in late 1987.

The East African program gained momentum with the posting of a scientist in Kenya who worked closely with Semi-Arid Food Grain Research and Development (SAFGRAD), largely funded by USAID. The work was coordinated for Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.

In the mid-eighties the Farming System Research program started in Ethiopia for the deep vertisols in the country. The experience gained from managing deep vertisols in India was successfully transferred in a cooperative project with generous funding from the Dutch Government. The Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture, the institute of Agricultural research, the International Livestock Center for Africa and the Aleymaya University joined hands in this project. Also in the mid-eighties regional networks involving cereals were initiated in Africa.

... and in Asia CM Pattanayak in Burkina Faso, 1975.

Besides India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand were the first countries where cooperation started in Asia. In India, the All India Coordinated Projects on the ICRISAT mandate crops were the main institutions for close cooperation.

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In 1977-78 cooperative programs also started in the Middle East – in Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Syria. A chickpea specialist was placed at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) to work on kabuli chickpea.

Other initiatives took root – the Asian Grain Legume Network (AGLN) was formed with the signing of an MOU with Sri Lanka in 1986; and the Legume On Farm Testing program (LEGOFTEN) started in 1987 with the request from the Government of India to extend the improved package of practices on legume crops in the farmers’ field (five Indian states took part in this very successful program of testing improved practices).

... and in Latin America Inauguration of ICRISAT Sahelian Center, 7 March 1989

Collaborative programs were launched in Brazil with support from the Ford Foundation in 1975-76, and in 1982, ICRISAT posted an agronomist at sister CGIAR Center CIMMYT, to work on cold-tolerant sorghum.

The efforts put in by ICRISAT in Latin America resulted in the release of three sorghum varieties by Mexico in 1982, two varieties in El Salvador and seed production in Venezuela and Nicaragua.

In April 1985, ICRISAT received a certificate in recognition of its work during 1981-85 on sorghum in Latin America and the Caribbean, from an organization of nine countries in the region. Similar recognition had been received earlier for its work in 1977-81.

Review of research and management by external panels ICRISAT was evaluated by two external review panels in August-September 1984 for the CGIAR. Both the panels commended the institute for the way it was carrying out its research and managing its resources.

LD Swindale, CLL Gowda and RS Paroda – making the strong ICAR-ICRISAT partnership even stronger.

15th Anniversary For ICRISAT, 1987 marked an important milestone with the completion of 15 years of international service. The Institute celebrated its 15th anniversary on 16 October 1987, the day dedicated as the World Food Day by the FAO of the UN to resource poor farmers.

An external evaluation team concluded in its report in 1988 that the SADCC/ ICRISAT Regional Program in Zimbabwe “has made excellent progress in addressing most of the objectives anticipated in the project design, and had produced results earlier than expected in a number of areas”.

This followed a similar positive report in 1987 of an external evaluation of the work done by ICRISAT in Mali.

The Third Decade (1990-2000) – Change

LD Swindale greeting AP Governor Ms Kumud Behn Joshi at ICRISAT’S 15th Anniversary celebrations.

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In 1990, ICRISAT commenced research to develop genome maps of sorghum and pearl millet with collaboration from Italy, UK and USA. A Geographical Information System (GIS) that could manage and display multiple levels of spatially distributed data was installed at ICRISAT-Patancheru.

Dr James Garrett Ryan, an Australian, assumed responsibility as the Director General of ICRISAT on 19 August 1991. He was the third Chief Executive of the 19-year-old Institute succeeding Ralph Cummings and Leslie Swindale.

World’s first pigeonpea hybrid ICRISAT scientists bred ICPH 8, the world’s first hybrid pigeonpea (in fact the world’s first hybrid legume). It was notified in June 1991 by the Indian Government for use by farmers in central India. This technological breakthrough was significant because for the first time a hybrid of a pulse crop had been developed. Hybridization in pulses had been difficult because pulse flowers have a structure that favors self-pollination over cross-pollination.

Progress in Africa On 17 December 1993, USAID formalized a grant amendment providing the SADC/ICRISAT Project in Zimbabwe with US$10 million for its Phase III activities from September 1993 to September 1998, an action that indicated faith in our southern African program.

Pigeonpea hybrid reaches farmers’ fields.

In 1994, the Desert Margins Initiative (DMI, later DMP) was launched to combat desertification in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. The year 1994 also was significant for the southern African region as South Africa dismantled the apartheid regime and re-joined the world community. It also formally joined the SADC (Southern African Development Community – changed from SADCC of the eighties).

20th Anniversary Mr PV Narasimha Rao, Prime Minister of India, was the Chief Guest at ICRISAT’s 20th anniversary celebrations on 29 August 1992. At the commemorative program, Mr Rao congratulated the scientists for their efforts on behalf of the people who live in some of the world’s most difficult agricultural regions. He called on ICRISAT and other research institutions to foster closer liaisons with farmers. A perfect mixture of the farmers’“robust common sense” with the application of basic scientific research, he felt, was necessary to develop agriculture in India.

Major Changes Changes in the external environment and reduced and uncertain funding in the 1990s was affecting all centers throughout the CGIAR system. Faced with funding shortfalls and the necessity to rationalize programs and reduce staff and other resources, reorganization became essential.

Signing the SADC-USAID MoU.

During the second half of 1994, ICRISAT went through a severe reduction of staff in the Asia region. The altered funding situation and the need to preserve the future of the Institute led ICRISAT to implement a voluntary retirement scheme in August 1994. As a consequence, 381 nationally recruited staff members and 169 workers from the Regular Work Force (RWF) left the Institute. Some of them had served the Institute for more than 20 years and their contributions were highly acknowledged.

The African program was also badly affected due to reduction in funding. The program in Africa was consolidated into 7 locations – ISC at Niamey, ICRISAT-Kano in Nigeria, ICRISAT-Bamako in Mali, SMIP in Zimbabwe, ICRISAT-Malawi at Lilongwe, ICRISAT-Nairobi in Kenya and Joint Vertisol Project with ILRI in Ethiopia.

On the bright side, 1996 was a year of major awards bagged by ICRISAT scientists, some hope despite the gloom and shadows cast by financial constraints. ICRISAT won international recognition for its scientific achievements. Crowning the year was a “double first” for the Institute – two awards received at the International Centers’ Week, the annual gathering of the CGIAR. ICRISAT won the much-coveted King Baudouin Award in recognition of its “outstanding achievements in the development of disease-resistant, yield-increasing pearl millet in collaboration with advanced institutions and national research programs”.

The other award was a new one inaugurated by the Chairman of the CGIAR to recognize outstanding achievements on the part of locally recruited professionals at the Centers.

1992. Vertisol project in Ethiopia.

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This was also the year that ICRISAT joined the “IT Superhighway”. After much discussion, ICRISAT, like most of the other CGIAR Centers, became part of the Integrated Voice and Data Network (IVDN) of the CGIAR. Not only would ICRISAT enjoy the obvious benefits of transmitting and accessing email and data at much faster rates than before, but most importantly, ICRISAT would finally have access to the Internet. The IVDN was inaugurated on 17 May 1996.

Changing of the guard Dr Ryan left the institute after six years at the helm of affairs at ICRISAT. In September 1997, Dr Shawki Barghouti, a native of Jordan was appointed as the new Director General of the Institute.

In 1998, ICRISAT became the first Center in CGIAR history to be awarded the System’s highest accolade, the King Baudouin Award for a second consecutive time. Following the 1996 award for pearl millet improvement, the 1998 award heralded the innovative science and partnership achievements in pigeonpea improvement. The award notification praised the contributions made towards enhanced food security, poverty alleviation, and sustainable agricultural development in both Africa and Asia. ICRISAT also bagged numerous other awards in this decade.

The Fourth Decade (2000s) – Hope and Prosperity The Chairperson of the ICRISAT Governing Board, Dr Ragnhild Sohlberg, announced that Dr William Dollente Dar had been appointed as the new Director General following the departure of Dr Barghouti and interim Director Leslie Swindale. It was a happy day when he joined the Institute on 10 January 2000. Born in the Philippines in April 1953, William Dar at 46 was the youngest Director General in the Institute’s history.

Ragnhild Sohlberg and Dr Dar being interviewed.

Prior to joining ICRISAT, Dr Dar had achieved his existing position of Presidential Advisor on Rural Development in the Philippines after a steep and steady rise in his career.

At the dawn of the millennium, ICRISAT witnessed a renaissance. The institution, riddled with the sagging spirits and morale of the staff and abysmally uncertain financial backup, rose to the call of the new leadership. Infused with new verve and glowing optimism, ICRISAT picked up the phrase “Science with a Human face” from the inaugural speech of its young and energetic Director General, William Dar, and turned it into the now famous Institute motto. A decade of continued optimism and exploration of uncommon opportunities for inclusive and sustainable development had begun, while continuing to address the twin challenges of global hunger and poverty.

From the turn of the century in 2001, the theme “Grey to Green Revolution” was on top of the agenda, and it was about making better use of locally available, affordable resources, complemented by modest but practical inputs from beyond. Through this novel initiative, ICRISAT helped to put the home-grown resources to much better use, as they can grow their own way out of poverty.

“ICRISAT vision and strategy to 2010” addressed the challenges and issues of the semi-arid tropics and drew up six major global research themes and corresponding deliverables. It was a watershed year marking all round development.

30th Anniversary Director General Dar taking the pledge at the launch of the Team ICRISAT movement on 13 February 2002.

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On 20 December 2002, ICRISAT celebrated 30 years of its existence with great pride and pomp. His Excellency Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, President of India, was the Chief Guest at the celebration.

In his keynote address, President Kalam urged India to apply scientific methods to ensure soil fertility, and said that integrated soil nutrient and water management are focal issues in drylands. He asked ICRISAT to address possible agricultural and water conservation technologies in such areas, keeping in mind that solutions to these problems may be beyond the scope of only agriculture, and may need to extend to animal husbandry, poultry, agroprocessing and other related activities.

Dr Dar said that despite numerous successes over the past three decades, many challenges remained. One of the biggest was to find ways to improve conditions for the world’s poorest people. Turning adversities into opportunities is the heart of a movement spearheaded by ICRISAT, the Grey to Green Revolution, and guided by Science with a Human Face.

The subsequent years saw a boutique of innovations and improvements. Pioneering efforts in biotechnology, the power of pigeonpea in East Africa, prospering with peas and peanuts in China, the super-early chickpea, sweet sorghum and its wide benefits, high value crop diversification, innovative watershed management and seed systems are a few important highlights of this decade.

All stand to attention as the Indian National Anthem is sung at the 30th Anniversary celebrations.

On the information frontier, taking high tech to old problems, the formation of the virtual academy of the semi-arid tropics (VASAT), the demystification of biotechnology through media workshops, scaling up of bio-informatics and GIS systems, and the impacts of capacity building find a place of pride in our records.

In the last five years of the fourth decade a fresh flush of innovations came to the fore. ICRISAT’s Agriscience Innovation Platform is flourishing and attracting more clients; the Government of India is in a joint initiative with ICRISAT to facilitate the advancement of potential transgenic technologies of national importance through the Platform for Translational Research on Transgenic Crops (PTTC); the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is supporting major initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa through the HOPE and TL II projects; ICRISAT is using ingenious technologies and cutting-edge biotechnologies to improve crop production and nutritive values; and is prepared to face the consequences of climate change with the climate resilient mandate crops.

The chief development in this last decade is ICRISAT’s new Strategic Plan to 2020 that is anchored on the conceptual framework called “Inclusive Market-Oriented Development” or simply IMOD. This commendable approach is another path-breaking blue-print that is paving the way for a sustainable future.

Our work is not complete, but as we look back on the milestones we have surmounted, we are proud of our achievements and extremely grateful to our partners and benefactors who have made it possible. ICRISAT is a responsible Institution with a noble mission, and long may it continue to be so.

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Director General Dar steering the new strategy.

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a

The 1970s 9

Highlights of the 1970s � The birth of ICRISAT � RW Cummings appointed as Director � CF Bentley appointed as Chairman of the Board � Charting out the research programs � Developing the experiment station � Hiring scientists and other staff members � Training program started � LD Swindale takes over as new Director � Computer Services move into new buildings � Genebank started with short-term storage � Program started in West Africa and in the Middle East � Inauguration of ICRISAT-Center at Patancheru

Signing of the Constitution of ICRISAT. (L to R) MS Swaminathan, RH Demuth of the World Bank, DL Umali of FAO, and Fred Bentley. Ralph Cummings is standing. 5 July 1972.

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Agronomist Bert A Krantz (left), ICRISAT’s first head of Farming Systems, was responsible for designing the earliest crop experiments. November 1972.

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Temple idol being shifted from Manmool to Ramchandrapuram. 1973.

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Dr Hugh Doggett, ICRISAT’s first sorghum breeder, admiring healthy sorghum earheads. 1974.

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Foundation stone laid by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Others present were MS Swaminathan, Fred Bentley, AP Chief Minister J Vengal Rao and Ralph Cummings. 11 January 1975.

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Prime Minister Gandhi with Lord Ganesha.

The idol was discovered on site during excavation for Lake ICRISAT. 1975.

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Ground-breaking ceremony for Patancheru Center by Ralph Cummings.

Art Leach and JS Kanwar are also seen. 1975.

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Jim Estes and the computer team with the DEC PDP11/45 system.

The computer was the second of its kind in India. (L to R) K Joseph, TBRN Gupta, BK Chakraborty, JKR Murthy, JW Estes, Lydia Flynn and Nithi Devi.

February 1976.

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Indian President Dr Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed at ICRISAT headquarters. 1976.

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The Library started in Chikoti Gardens, Hyderabad, in early 1974 and moved to the Banjara Hills Road 12 office three months later. Prasanna Lakshmi (left) was the first staff member to be hired by Librarian TC Jain. She also cataloged the first book in the library. 1977.

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Inauguration of ICRISAT Staff Recreation Club, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad. Dancers (L to R) Soumitra Mukherjee, Gina Estes, Shauna McGinnis, and Purnima Nene. 5 March 1977.

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Dr Cummings departs after serving the institute for five years. (L to R) N Rajamani, RW Cummings, V Balasubrahmaniam and Mary Cummings. 1977.

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LD Swindale, RC McGinnis and JS Kanwar discuss management matters in the DG’s office at Begumpet. 1977.

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Transport and Farm Machinery. 1978.

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ICRISAT Employees’ Cooperative Welfare Society helps employees with financial assistance, thrift schemes, hire-purchase offers, and a campus store. July 1978.

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Scientists SC Gupta, KN Rai and Anand Kumar contribute to pearl millet improvement. 1978.

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John Green explains pigeonpea during the visit of Indian Agriculture Minister, Surjeet Singh Barnala. February1978.

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Dr LJG van der Maesen (third from left) describes the Genetic Resources Unit that was created by incorporating crop germplasm activities into one unit.

1 January 1979.

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Hans Binswanger deliberates on Economics in the semi-arid tropics. Other Economists in the early days included JG Ryan, M von Oppen, Victor Doherty, NS Jodha, Dayanatha Jha and RD Ghodake. 1979.

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The Microbiology Department, headed by Peter Dart, started in 1975. In this picture, Shika Mittal and OP Rupela develop rhizobium inoculum on agar plates. 1979.

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Glenn Bengston Farewell party.

A Antony Samy, Mira Shah, SP Jayakumar and SM Sinha are also in the picture.1979.

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Prime Minister Charan Singh inaugurates ICRISAT Center.

30 August 1979.

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(L to R) Georgina Fredericks, Joyce Gay, Mafrooz, Geeta C, Leela Expedith, G Revathi, Philomena D’souza and Cora Rebeiro, are part of ICRISAT’s women power. 1979.

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Housing and Food Services began activities at Patancheru in the Building 205 canteen.

In this picture (taken at a later date) are: (L to R) Lewis Ferias, Samy Mazumdar, Williams, MD Valiuddin, VR Nair, Peter and DN Sar. July 1979.

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Zafar arranges food made with mandate crops for crop quality analyses in the Biochemistry laboratory.

Dr Jambunathan was the head of Biochemistry at the time. 1979.

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