Centre for Agriculture and Rural Development

The Centre works on development in rural and agriculture sectors, with a special focus on poverty alleviation. The goals of the centre align with the global and national development agenda of eradicating poverty and zero hunger by 2030 through a variety of environmentally compatible and sustainable development initiatives. The Centre believes in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of development programmes in order to bring in a positive change in agriculture and rural development areas.

As part of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with National Academy of Agricultural Research Management (NAARM) under the aegis of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Government of India, the Centre anchored training programmes for its Senior Officials. A couple of customized “Senior Executive Development Programmes” with a central theme of “Leadership Development” were conceptualized and have since been implemented. The programmes are uniquely designed to suit the research, development and commercialization needs of ICAR. As part of the programme, ICAR senior officials visited China, Malaysia, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand. These visits exposed them to the best practices in agricultural research, upcoming areas of research to suit Indian conditions, advanced research activities, demand led research, to name a few. During 2018-2019, CPSRD continued implementation series of capacity building programmes for North Eastern Officials on Rural Industrial Development and Entrepreneurship with a sponsorship from the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER). These programmes, which catered to the needs of development officers from across sectors including agriculture, allied and industries, received a positive feedback.

The programmes brought out the role of Government in industrial development, covering a range of topics from “idea to impact”. On applied research activities, CARD successfully completed three research studies sponsored by the Department of Rural Development, Government of Andhra Pradesh, and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). Two studies, sponsored by the Government of AP, titled “Third Party Evaluation of Horticulture Assets under MGNREGA in Andhra Pradesh” and “Third Party Evaluation of Farm Ponds under MGNREGA in Andhra Pradesh” involved primary research of 1,200 farmer households across eight districts of the State. The findings and recommendations of the study were well received by the sponsoring Department. The study sponsored by NABARD, titled “Study of Social Sector Infrastructure under RIDF in the State of Andhra Pradesh”, had evaluated the technical and financial progress of the health and education sector infrastructure interventions under the RIDF. It came out with recommendations for improved implementation of the programme. The Centre looks forward to continuing its efforts and contributing to the policy and programme planning and evaluation in agriculture and rural development areas.

Recently, Centre has completed evaluation of Central Sector Schemes – Natural Resources Management & Agricultural Engineering of Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR); Feasibility study for deploying own vehicle by TSDDCF Ltd. for liquid milk distribution- Telangana State Dairy Development Cooperative Federation Limited; Study of JLG (Joint Liability Groups) in Andhra Pradesh for NABARD; Documentation of Stories of Resilience – International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) projects’ response to COVID Pandemic and Study on women trafficking and Joginis in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh for National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).

Centre is in the process of developing training and capacity building Plan for Fisheries and Aquaculture under Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) for National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) and Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India.