ICAR–NDDB Join Forces to Build a Future-Ready, Climate-Resilient Dairy Sector

By enabling the effective translation of research outputs into practical, field-level solutions, the partnership aims to enhance productivity, profitability and sustainability in India’s dairy sector.

In a significant step towards strengthening India’s dairy ecosystem, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) to deepen collaboration in multidisciplinary research, innovation, and capacity building across the entire dairy value chain.

The partnership covers critical areas including dairy production, processing and value addition, with a clear focus on translating science into impact for India’s primary stakeholders—millions of small and marginal dairy farmers.

The MoU was signed by Dr. Raghavendra Bhatta, Deputy Director General (Animal Science), ICAR, and Shri S. Regupathi, Executive Director (Operations), NDDB, in the presence of Dr. Mangi Lal Jat, Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) and Director General, ICAR, and Dr. Meenesh C. Shah, Chairman, NDDB.

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Breaking Silos to Address Complex Dairy Challenges

Highlighting the strategic importance of the collaboration, Dr. Mangi Lal Jat underscored the need to break institutional silos and adopt complementary, integrated research approaches to address the increasingly complex challenges facing Indian agriculture and livestock systems.

He stressed that integrated farming systems, climate resilience, low livestock productivity and value chain development require structured, long-term partnerships such as this. Dr. Jat also highlighted the need to adopt gaushalas as part of sustainable solutions to manage stray cattle, alongside the development of scalable models for manure management and biogas utilisation. Emphasising fodder as a critical input for livestock productivity, he noted that all initiatives under the partnership would be driven by modern technologies and innovations emerging from ICAR institutes.

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Towards One of the World’s Largest Integrated Dairy Research Platforms

Dr. Meenesh C. Shah, Chairman, NDDB, described the collaboration as a potential catalyst for creating one of the world’s largest integrated platforms for scientific cooperation in the dairy sector, aligned with the national vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’.

He noted NDDB’s successful past collaborations with ICAR institutes on missions such as ration balancing, mineral mapping and total mixed ration programmes, and highlighted new opportunities in areas like ethno-veterinary medicine. Dr. Shah reaffirmed NDDB’s readiness to address emerging challenges across livestock and agriculture in the national interest, with a focus on developing scalable and replicable models across diverse agro-climatic zones.

Beyond dairy, he pointed to future cooperation across value chains including fodder, fruits and vegetables, oilseeds, milk and milk products, reinforcing the partnership’s multidisciplinary scope.

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From Research to Field-Level Impact

The MoU seeks to synergise ICAR’s scientific and research expertise with NDDB’s strong field presence and institutional capabilities to address emerging challenges across the dairy value chain—particularly at the grassroots level.

Key focus areas include:

• Knowledge sharing and joint research

• Technology development, validation and deployment

• Human resource development

• Joint training programmes for researchers, professionals and farmers

By enabling the effective translation of research outputs into practical, field-level solutions, the partnership aims to enhance productivity, profitability and sustainability in India’s dairy sector.

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Call to Action: Scaling Science-Driven Dairy Transformation

The ICAR–NDDB collaboration sends a clear signal to researchers, agri-tech innovators, startups and development partners: India’s dairy sector is ready for science-led, technology-enabled transformation at scale.

With strong institutional backing and a shared commitment to farmer-centric innovation, the partnership is poised to play a pivotal role in shaping a resilient, inclusive and globally competitive dairy ecosystem.