Agriculture Minister of Bihar, Shri Vijay Kumar Sinha, accompanied by senior officials from the Bihar Agriculture Department, visited ICRISAT, Patancheru, on 11 August 2026 as part of his visit to Hyderabad to gain insights into innovative agricultural technologies, research advancements, and best practices relevant to Bihar’s agricultural development.
The delegation included Sri Narmdeshwar Lal, IAS, Principal Secretary, Agriculture; Sri Mukesh Kumar Lal, IAAS, Agriculture Director; Sri Abhishek Kumar, IFS, Director, Horticulture-cum-Managing Director, Bihar State Horticulture Mission/Bihar Fruit & Vegetable Development Corporation alongside Shri N P Shravan Kumar, Joint Director of Agriculture, Telangana.
The visit commenced with an interaction with ICRISAT leadership, including Dr Stanford Blade, Deputy Director General (Research & Innovation), Mr Sanjay Agarwal, Assistant Director General, and ICRISAT’s Global Research Program Directors, Dr Raman Babu and Dr Ramesh Singh. During the meeting, Dr Blade presented an overview of ICRISAT’s global research and development initiatives, highlighting its work in strengthening food, nutrition, and livelihood security through science-led agricultural innovations.
A key highlight of the visit was the presentation on the Bihar Centre of Excellence for Millets Value Chain (BCoEMVC) project, where Dr Kuldeep Singh, Head – ICRISAT Genebank, shared the progress achieved under the initiative and its contribution to advancing millet-based value chains in Bihar.
Speaking during the interaction, Shri Vijay Kumar Sinha commended the progress made under the BCoEMVC project and stated,“It is important that we showcase the benefits of Shree Anna (millets) to farmers and communicate the comparative advantages of millets over traditional cropping systems, so that millets can be adopted at scale.We should make the Bihar Centre of Excellence for Millets Value Chain a model centre for food and nutrition security, and we look forward to ICRISAT’s continued support in this endeavour. I am confident that these efforts, in partnership with ICRISAT, will position Bihar as a model for eastern India and the nation.”
The Minister also interacted with farmer trainees from Bihar who are currently undergoing capacity-building programs at ICRISAT, providing an opportunity to understand the impact of knowledge-sharing and skill-development initiatives on farming communities.
The delegation subsequently toured several of ICRISAT’s research facilities and innovation platforms, including the Regenerative Agriculture Living Laboratory, Speed Breeding Facility, Genebank, Center of Excellence in Genomics, and Agribusiness Innovation Platform (AIP).
The visit reinforced the strong partnership between the Government of Bihar and ICRISAT and underscored the shared commitment to leveraging science, innovation, and collaborative action to enhance agricultural productivity, strengthen millet value chains, and improve the livelihoods of farmers across the state.