ICAR to Cap Rice, Wheat Area Under Crop Diversification Plan; Forms 52 Task Teams for 2047 Roadmap

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) will push for crop diversification under its roadmap for 2047, with the area under rice to be capped at 53-55 million hectares and a similar reduction planned for wheat, while expanding acreage under maize, nutritional cereals, pulses and horticulture crops.

ICAR Director General M L Jat said the diversification plan has been worked out in consultation with NITI Aayog. To push demand-driven research towards this and other goals, ICAR has formed 52 task teams cutting across its divisions and institutions, each working under a defined "theory of change" framework, he said.

Speaking at ICAR's 98th Foundation Day here on Thursday, Jat said the council aims to raise agriculture production to 2.1 billion tonnes by 2047 from the current 1.3 billion tonnes, horticulture production to 797 million tonnes from 369.7 million tonnes, milk to 628 million tonnes from 247.87 million tonnes, fisheries output to 40 million tonnes from 19.5 million tonnes, and agroforestry cover to 50 million hectares from 28.4 million hectares.

The focus will also be on improving strategic areas -- farm mechanisation, currently at 47%, needs to be raised to over 80% by 2047, while nutrient use efficiency should go up from 35% to over 75%.

Water use efficiency is targeted to be raised to 40-80% and post-harvest losses, currently at 20%, are to be brought down to zero, Jat said.

Contextualised, farmer-specific delivery of services is to be scaled up to 100% coverage, according to the roadmap.

Other long-term priorities include self-sufficiency in domestic fertiliser production, land degradation neutrality, net-zero agriculture and improved nutrition outcomes, officials said.

ICAR also launched a new integrated scheme, HARVEST -- Harnessing Agri-Food Research, Vibrant Extension and Education for Science-led Transformation -- that merges eight existing ICAR schemes into one framework, Jat said.

It will be backed by a Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Impact Assessment (MELIA) platform, a central data management system, a knowledge and communication strategy, and the national gender platform.

Following directions from the prime minister, ICAR has begun preparing state-specific, science-based agricultural roadmaps. West Bengal's roadmap was presented this week after Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Assam, Maharashtra and Goa, Jat said, adding that roadmaps for remaining states will follow.

Reviewing the past year's performance, ICAR said foodgrain production rose by 19 million tonnes, valued at ₹60,000 crore. Production has more than tripled in the last 12 years compared with growth recorded between 2001 and 2014-15.

Horticulture output rose by 97 million tonnes over 12 years, with last year's increase valued at ₹20,000 crore, while the dairy and livestock sector contributed ₹50,000 crore in value during the year. Fisheries production has doubled since 2014, adding ₹40,000 crore in value last year, Jat said.

The four sectors together contributed ₹1,70,000 crore in value last year, of which research accounted for about a third, or roughly ₹55,000 crore, they said.

On sectoral achievements, ICAR said 386 crop varieties across 34 crops were released in 2025, including 94% climate-resilient and 29 biofortified varieties. In horticulture, 117 varieties across 57 crops were released.

Foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks in livestock were reduced by 85%, and a vaccine for African swine fever is set to be released, officials said. Six new fish species were discovered during the year.

ICAR also flagged an 85% reduction in stubble burning last year, which was acknowledged in Parliament, and said its intellectual property portfolio grew 33% between 2021 and 2025.

Under the 'Khet Bachao' campaign run through June, 1,657 teams across 728 districts held over 1.31 lakh programmes, reaching one crore farmers directly and five crore more through media outreach, Jat said.

ICAR reported an expenditure utilisation of 99.73% for last year, its highest ever.

Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Fisheries and Animal Husbandry Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Ministers of State -- Bhagirath Chaudhary, Ramnath Thakur and S K Singh Baghel -- and Animal Husbandry and Dairying Secretary Naresh Pal Gangwar and Niti Aayog member K V Raju were present at the event.