National Agricultural Innovation Project Pushing the Frontiers of Transformation

Abstract

Externally aided projects particularly from World Bank have always served a specific changed context, contributed to systematic planning, more focused research, improved research processes and methods, better monitoring, evaluation, documentation and reporting of research results and more importantly human resource development. The NAIP as seen above is an unlimited opportunity for transformation. Generally, the ICAR has capitalized the gains from such opportunities each time better than previously. the ICAR has also learnt the skills of designing such projects on its own like the NAIP suiting to its changing needs. But the internalization of the good ideas and practices in our regular projects is very slow and fragmented. Often times our mindset and rigid and inflexible administration and financial rules and procedures do not match with execution of science projects and constrain smooth and timely implementation/completion of the time bound projects with expected output. Unless we change our mindset and reform our rules and procedures suitably as permitted in EAPs, sustaining the gains from such uncommon opportunities are less than optimal. the ICAR is implementing the Twelfth Five-Year-Plan with several innovative initiatives. It is expected that the ICAR has internalized the lessons from NAIP and other experiences and geared up to fully achieving the objectives of the Twelfth Five-Year-Plan.