NEW DELHI: The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA), Argentina, have signed a Work Plan 2025-2027 to strengthen bilateral cooperation in agricultural research, capacity building, and technology exchange. The Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) and Director General, ICAR, and the Ambassador of the Argentine Republic to India, Mariano Caucino exchanged the signed ICAR–INTA Work Plan on Tuesday, marking a significant step forward in strengthening bilateral agricultural collaboration.
The Work Plan establishes collaboration across natural resource management, sustainable agronomy including zero tillage, mechanisation, micro-irrigation and fertigation, crop and animal biotechnology, livestock improvement, production technologies for temperate and tropical crops, digital agriculture, biosafety and phytosanitary measures, and value chain development. Implementation will be through joint research, germplasm exchange, expert engagements, and structured training and study visits.
Also read Manipur’s LPG Pioneer Heising Shaiza Passes Away at 90
Planned study visits and training programme cover greenhouse vegetable production, floriculture and temperate fruits, post-harvest physiology, functional food development, veterinary diagnostics, precision livestock farming, waste-to-wealth technologies, microbial feed enhancement, digital agriculture, and sanitary and phytosanitary systems. Germplasm exchange will include soybean, sunflower, maize, blueberry, citrus, wild papaya species, guava, and set vegetable crops.
India and Argentina are also deepening cooperation in oilseeds and pulses value chains, agricultural mechanisation—including zero-tillage, cotton harvesting machinery, and drones—and horticulture value chain development, including infrastructure and planting material exchange. In plant and animal health, it envisages region-specific Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) elimination strategies and enhanced collaboration on locust surveillance and management through technical exchanges and best-practice sharing.
Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to the India–Argentina scientific partnership and agreed to annual monitoring and review to ensure effective implementation and progress.
Ambassador Caucino said that “this important step is the result of the historic summit between President Milei and Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the latter’s visit to Argentina in July” and stressed the “high degree of complementarity between both economies”. The Ambassador also highlighted the efforts made by the agriculture attache Mariano Beheran since the opening of his office in Delhi in 2019.
