ICAR-CCARI Develops Coastal Agricultural Information System (CAIS) for Farmers, Researchers

A Coastal Agricultural Information System (CAIS) has been created by the ICAR-Central Coastal Agricultural Research Institute (CCARI) for farmers, researchers, and decision-makers.

CAIS was introduced as part of the current 5-day international training programme on "Diversification of Coastal Agroecosystems for Climate Resilience and Livelihood Security," which will end on November 11. The International Training program was organized by CCARI in collaboration with the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and World Agroforestry (ICRAF).

Dr. Suresh Kumar Chaudhari, the Chief Guest and Deputy Director-general for natural resource management gave a presentation on the importance of diversification, climate resilience, and coastal livelihood as part of the training programme.

He further added that the coastal agricultural information system (CAIS) would serve as a knowledge base and a path toward sustainable coastal agriculture for the benefit of farmers, researchers, and decision-makers.

Dr. Chaudhari noted that agro-ecotourism has created a fresh opportunity to boost agricultural revenue in rural regions and also inspire and lure young people towards agriculture.

He also launched the ICAR-CCARI-developed Coastal Agricultural Information System (CAIS).

Dr. Parveen Kumar, Director of ICAR-CCARI, while welcoming the audience gave a quick overview of the coastal agroecosystem as well as its most recent accomplishments.

Other eminent people who took part in the programme were - Dr. Javed Rizvi (Director, CIFOR-ICRAF, Asia), Dr. Chandrashekhar Biradar (Country Director, CIFOR-ICRAF, India), Dr. Shiv Kumar Dhyani (Country Coordinator, CIFOR-ICRAF) and Dr. A. Arunachalam, (Director, ICAR-Central Agroforestry Research Institute, Jhansi, UP).

Dr. Rizvi advised the participating nations to find potential for cross-national cooperation. On the other hand, Dr. Arunachalam emphasized the significance of coastal ecosystems and goods.

Dr. Dhyani gave a briefing on CIFOR-ICRAF and its partnership with ICAR. It is worth mentioning that India is the first nation to have a national agroforestry policy, he added.

Dr. Biradar mainly focused on climate change, the problem of rising sea levels, and land degradation especially in the coastal regions.

International participants from various countries like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Maldives and Vietnam also attended the inaugural function.