The National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA) organized a one-day national consultation on July 8, 2026, at the NASC Complex, PUSA, New Delhi, focused on "Quality Data Generation and Dissemination for Efficient Project Planning and Implementation in Rainfed Areas of India: Addressing Challenges to Remove Bottlenecks". The primary objective was to create a platform for research organizations to showcase their expertise and information sharing capabilities while allowing state line departments to express their data needs and challenges in acquiring quality data for effective project planning and implementation in rainfed areas.
Dr. Chandra Shekhar Kumar, CEO of NRAA, emphasized the critical importance of accessibility to quality data at the end-user level, stating that various government schemes and programs implemented at the grassroots level would achieve greater impact with available base data. He noted that the efficiency of ongoing schemes could be improved using performance data from previous schemes, and that standardized quality data should be easily accessible to users to formulate more impactful and outcome-oriented strategies.
The consultation featured two technical sessions. The first session focused on data collection and challenges in storage and dissemination, with presentations from multiple organizations including the India Meteorological Department (IMD), National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning (NBSSLUP), Borlaug Institute for South Asia-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (BISA-IARI), International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Centre (MNCFC), and Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA). The second session addressed data requirements for project planning and bottlenecks in data acquisition by users, with active participation from state representatives including Tamilnadu, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar.
The consultation highlighted that comprehensive datasets on rainfall, soils, land use, water resources, crop performance, socio-economic conditions, climate risks, watershed characteristics, and natural resources are essential for policymakers and implementing agencies to identify local priorities, design location-specific interventions, optimize resource allocation, and assess project outcomes with greater accuracy for the inclusive growth and development of rainfed areas.