New Delhi: Agricultural experts have said that India must accelerate the delivery of climate-resilient and healthier rice varieties to farmers to strengthen food security, improve farm resilience, and address growing climate pressures.
The call was made at Seed Accelerator Meet 3.0, organised by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the Indian Council of Agricultural Research–Indian Institute of Rice Research (ICAR-IIRR), and the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare in New Delhi.
The event brought together researchers, government agencies, seed companies, extension partners, and farmer organisations to advance the deployment of improved rice varieties, the IRRI said in a release.
Under the ICAR–IRRI collaborative framework and the One Rice Breeding Network, the Seed Accelerator Network (SAN) was launched in 2024 to bridge the gap between breeding innovations and farmer adoption by strengthening seed scaling systems and accelerating varietal deployment.
As co-convenor of SAN 2026, Dr. Swati Nayak, Lead of Seed Systems and Interim Country Manager–India at IRRI, said the platform enables public and private seed stakeholders to share evidence from on-farm validation of new rice genetics and strengthen seed delivery systems.
She added that it also helps build partnerships to speed up access to improved rice varieties for farmers.
Dr. D. K. Yadav, Deputy Director General (Crop Science) at ICAR, said accelerated adoption of improved varieties is essential for enhancing productivity, resilience, and national food security. He stressed that climate-resilient and specialty rice varieties must reach farmers faster through stronger coordination across the seed ecosystem.
Dr. S.V. Sai Prasad, Principal Scientist at ICAR-IIRR and Co-Convenor of SAN 2026, said varietal replacement is most effective when farmers clearly perceive benefits and have access to suitable seeds, highlighting the importance of farmer-centric approaches in accelerating adoption.
Dr. Vikas Kumar Singh, Regional Breeding Lead and Interim Director, ISARC, IRRI, said the success of rice breeding should ultimately be measured by farmer adoption and impact, adding that SAN is helping bridge the gap between breeders and seed deployers to scale superior varieties.
Agriculture Commissioner Dr. Praveen Kumar Singh said timely access to quality seed is as important as the development of new varieties. He noted that strong seed systems, digital tools, and collaborative partnerships are essential to ensure faster delivery of innovations to farmers.
The event featured technical sessions on demand-driven varietal scaling, adaptive on-farm testing, and climate-smart rice breeding. Experts presented findings from farmer-participatory trials and discussed strategies to improve seed delivery systems, strengthen varietal turnover, and speed up the adoption of climate-resilient rice varieties across diverse agro-climatic zones.
The meeting concluded with a call to strengthen collaboration across the seed sector to ensure that promising rice varieties move more rapidly from laboratories to farmers’ fields. Participants emphasised that faster adoption will be crucial for improving resilience, supporting livelihoods, and meeting future food security needs.
