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The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), in partnership with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), launched the CGIAR India Policy Innovation Hub, a co-creation platform designed to strengthen evidence-led policymaking for transforming India’s food systems.
The India Policy Innovation Hub is part of CGIAR’s global Policy Innovations initiative, aimed at accelerating the translation of research into impactful policies.
The Hub will serve as a national platform connecting science from institutes like ICRISAT and Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) with policy priorities. It will also align these efforts with the vision of Viksit Bharat, in collaboration with NITI Aayog.
The launch took place during the policy dialogue on “Evidence-Led Food Systems Transformation Policies in the Context of Viksit Bharat,” held at the NASC Complex, New Delhi on 7 April 2026. Dr Raka Saxena, Senior Advisor, NITI Aayog, formally launched the Hub.
The event convened senior government representatives, global research leaders, and policy experts to deliberate on pathways for strengthening India’s food systems through science-backed agri-food systems approaches.
The inaugural session featured special remarks from distinguished leaders including Prof. Ashok Gulati (ICRIER), Dr Madhura Swaminathan (MSSRF), Dr Raghavendra Bhatta (ICAR), Dr Arabinda Kumar Padhee, IAS (Government of Odisha) and senior officials from the states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha.
“In a complex and diverse system like India, it is critical to align policy decisions with robust evidence rather than perceptions or short-term considerations. The Policy Innovation Hub can play a pivotal role in bridging this gap by generating credible evidence, correcting misconceptions, and fostering informed dialogue, thereby enabling more balanced, effective, and future-ready policy choices for the agricultural sector,” stated Prof. Ramesh Chand, Member, NITI Aayog.
“The launch of the Policy Innovation Hub marks a forward-looking step toward bringing science closer to decision-making. As CGIAR enters a new, more partner-centric phase, these hubs will play a critical role in accelerating the flow of insights between global and local contexts, while strengthening evidence-based policymaking,” noted Dr Clemens Breisinger, Director, CGIAR Policy Innovations.
Dr Himanshu Pathak, Director General, ICRISAT, joins the policy dialogue as a special guest.
?“As a co-lead alongside IFPRI, ICRISAT is committed to strengthening collaboration, building capacities, and co-creating solutions with partners. This initiative will enable the design of more responsive, inclusive, and forward-looking policies, aligned with the vision of Viksit Bharat and the need for sustainable, resilient agri-food systems,” remarked Dr Himanshu Pathak, Director General, ICRISAT.
“Policies, technology, and productivity are deeply intertwined, and advancing them together is essential for enhancing societal well-being. The Policy Innovation Hub, though modest in scale, is strategically significant—it serves as a catalytic platform to bring together insights, mobilize collective strengths, and generate global public goods. By leveraging our core competencies, this hub can contribute meaningfully to India’s ambitious vision,” observed Dr Shahidur Rashid, Director-South Asia, IFPRI.
The technical sessions focused on key topics such as food system prioritization in the context of Viksit Bharat, insights on price policies, commodity-specific strategies, with expert presentations on millets and pulses, rice systems, and cereal crops.
Promoting diversification, processes to integrate evidence and food-system approach into policymaking, repurposing agricultural subsidies, meta-analysis on global best practices, and greater focus on political economy analysis were some of the key policy questions highlighted in the discussion.
This was followed by a high-level panel discussion chaired by Dr PK Joshi, President, Agricultural Economics Research Association (AERA) with representatives from CGIAR centers—ICRISAT, IFPRI, IRRI, ICARDA, CIP, IWMI, and WorldFish.
Principal Scientist–Agriculture Economist, ICRISAT Dr Shalander Kumar, co-lead of this India Policy Innovation Hub noted, “As a way forward, the Hub will map existing evidence and identify gaps, co-design priority themes, and co-create and pilot policy innovations. This will be done through ‘Policy Labs’ in selected states, followed by institutionalizing the process."
Mr Sanjay Agarwal, ADG, ICRISAT in his closing remarks highlighted the need for policy reforms to be financially viable, administratively implementable, politically acceptable, result in greater good and design options to minimize trade-offs.
The event concluded with key takeaways from the session by Dr Mamta Pradhan, Research Coordinator, IFPRI, followed by closing remarks from Dr Clemens Breisinger, Director, CGIAR Policy Innovations Science Program, reinforcing the role of the newly launched Hub in advancing evidence-led food systems transformation in India.
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