ICAR - Central Arid Zone Research Institute

An ISO 9001 : 2015 Certified 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

Thrust Areas

  • Integrated assessment and monitoring of natural resources and desertification
  • Biodiversity conservation and identification of associated bio-active molecules
  • Weather monitoring and weather based agro-advisory

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

Thrust Areas

  • Basic and applied research for sustainable farming systems
  • Precision technologies for optimum resource utilization
  • Production of quality planting material

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

Thrust Areas

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

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

Thrust Areas

  • Improvement in existing livestock production systems to alleviate climatic stress
  • Management of rangelands and fodder crops
  • Balanced feed formulation utilizing locally available feed resources

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

Thrust Areas

  • Design and development of efficient farm implements and tools for arid agriculture
  • Renewable energy utilization in 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

Thrust Areas

  • Understanding adoption process and impact assessment of Improved technologies
  • Capacity building of stakeholders through customized training modules
  • Strengthening linkages with various state line departments

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).

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