ICAR - Central Arid Zone Research Institute

• Division of Natural Resources
• Division of Integrated Farming Systems
• Division of Plant Improvement and Pest Management
• Division of Livestock Production and Range Management
• Division of Agricultural Engineering and Renewable Energy
• Division of Transfer of Technology and Training

Division of Natural Resources

Major Programmes

• Integrated basic and human resource appraisal, monitoring, and desertification

Disciplines

• Agronomy, Agro-meteorology, Economic Botany, Geography, Pedology, Soil and Water Conservation Engineering, Soil Chemistry

Current activities

• Integrated assessment of the natural resources of hot arid zone
• Spatial assessment of soil carbon and carbon sequestration and plant biomass estimation
• Desertification assessment and mapping
• Quantitative drainage basin analysis and arid zone hydrology
• Assessment of soil fertility changes in western Rajasthan
• Landuse, land degradation,assessment and mapping
• Vegatation ecology and informatics
• Evapo-transpiration and crop-weather relationship of arid zone crops
• Agro-meteorological advisory services for farmers

Division of Integrated Farming Systems

Major Programmes

• Integrated arid land farming system research
• Plant product processing and value addition
• Management of land and water resources

Disciplines

• Agronomy, Agroforestry, Horticulture, Plant Physiology, Soil and Water Conservation Engineering, Soil Physics

Current activities

• Integrated farming system for sustainability in arid zone.
• Agro-technological options for field crops, trees, horticultural and medicinal plants for sustainability in Indian arid zone
• Organic farming for livelihood security
• Production of quality planting material of horticulture and forest plants.
• Protected agriculture for improving water productivity
• Nano-technological interventions for enhancing crop productivity
• Long term fertiliser experiment on pearl millet cropping
• DUS testing centre for selected horticultural crops
• Development of value chain of economically important plants

Division of Plant Improvement and Pest Management

Major Programmes

• Genetic improvement of crops, grasses and woody perennials
• Production of quality seed / planting material
• Developing integrated pest and disease management modules

Disciplines

• Plant Improvement and Biotechnology, Plant Breeding, Plant Genetics, Entomology, Plant Pathology and Nematology

Current activities

• Biodiversity conservation and genetic enhancement
• Improve production of quality seeds / planting material
• Molecular and biochemical aspects for plant improvement
• Integrated pest management (IPM) for safe production
• Production of quality planting material

Division of Livestock Production and Range Management

Major Programmes

• Improvement of existing livestock production systems, utilization of locally available feed resources, and management of rangelands

Disciplines

• Livestock Production and Management, Animal Nutrition and Agronomy

Current activities

• Conservation and improvement of arid livestock (Tharparkar cattle, Marwari and Parbatsari goats) and optimization of feeding and management conditions using local resources
• Economic formulation of supplementary and complete feeds and their evaluation
• Development of silvipasture and rangeland management systems for optimum livestock production
• Cultivation of pasture grasses and fodder crops for round the year forage production
• Value addition of goat milk products

Division of Agricultural Engineering and Renewable Energy

Major Programmes

• Renewable energy utilization for agriculture and domestic purposes
• Design and development of efficient farm implements and tools for arid agriculture
• Development of appropriate post-harvest technology for storage and value addition of arid produce

Disciplines

• Agricultural Structures and Process Engineering, Farm Machinery and Power, Physics, Soil Science

Current activities

• Design and development of PV-hybrid structures and improved devices for arid region
• Refinement of the selected agro processing machines for arid produce
• Optimization of energy and water use in solar PV pump based micro-irrigation system
• Development and dissemination of modular up-scaled solar devices with alternative materials
• Optimization of PCM thermal energy storage in solar dryer for year-round dehydration of vegetables
• Design and development of solar dryer with phase change material thermal storage for herbal and spices crop drying
• Development of dual purpose mechanical barrier to control wind erosion with simultaneous utilization of renewable energy
• Development of FYM applicator

Division of Transfer of Technology and Training

Major Programmes

• Research on diffusion and adoption of improved agricultural technologies including constraints analysis
• Transfer of technology, assessment, refinement and socio-economic analysis
• Capacity building of various stakeholders

Disciplines

• Agricultural Extension, Extension Education and Communication, Home Science Extension, Agronomy and Food and Nutrition

Current activities

• Dissemination of selected CAZRI technologies for strengthening resiliency of production systems in arid areas.
• Socio-economic and policy studies with respect to arid farming systems, livestock, climate change adaptation and government schemes related to employment and livelihood security.
• On-farm assessment of improved technologies for sustainable agriculture in arid region.
• Promotion of Integrated Farming System in arid region to mitigate production and marketing risks.
• Analysis of integration of technologies and enterprises by innovative farmers in arid region for enhancing income from and sustainability of farming.
• Capacity building of farmers, farm women, youth, SHGs, extension functionaries and other stakeholders.
• Technical backstopping to different programmes for development of arid agriculture.
• Single window delivery system of CAZRI technological products, services and information through Agricultural Technology Information Centre (ATIC).