November 17, 2025: The timing could not have been better. In the wake of the United Nations Climate Summit and its focus on making livestock a part of climate solutions, the fourth consecutive win of the prestigious National Gopal Ratna Award, constituted by the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India for outstanding contributions to livestock and dairy development, by BAIF’s Artificial Insemination (AI) Technicians in Odisha, reveals the silent revolution being woven in the hinterlands of our country for integrating livestock into national climate actions and resilient livelihoods.

BAIF compliments Shri. Dilip Kumar Pradhan from Angul district of Odisha for winning the National Gopal Ratna Award 2025 and for securing the first position under Best AIT category. He has amply proved that dedicated community service along with the right package of practices can benefit smallholder farmers to a considerable extent.

The key innovations in the BAIF Livestock Development model in Odisha and other regions of the country include doorstep breeding services for smallholder farmers, digital tools for tracking animal health and productivity, methane-reducing feed additives like “Harit Dhara”, and a continued focus on genetic improvement through advanced breeding and genomics. These efforts underscore the need for policy alignment, technology adoption, and measurable outcomes to position livestock as a contributor to national climate goals and to unlock climate finance. As an UNFCCC-accredited Observer Organisation, this recognition further demonstrates the reliability of livestock as a sustainable source of income for millions of smallholders in India as well as in the Global South.

The Award is also a testimony of the efficacy of the robust model pioneered by BAIF, integrating quality door-step livestock development services with skilled local self-employment. The support received by BAIF from the Government of Odisha, which has contributed to the dairy sector of the State and empowered the youth to excel in doorstep livestock development services, is gratefully acknowledged. We also take this opportunity to thank the Government of India for recognising and encouraging grassroots efforts in nation-building.

October 24, 2025: Any city or Pune city for that matter, cannot be viewed in isolation. They are all a part of a larger ecosystem and they rely on interconnected systems of water, food and human resources, stated Dr. Bharat Kakade, President, BAIF Development Research Foundation. Considering them as part of a larger supply chain is the key to achieving clean milk, residue-free food, renewable energy and clean water, he added. As a representative of BAIF which was a recipient of the JSW-Times of India 13th Earth Care Award for this year, Dr. Kakade was an invited panelist at the discussions on “Building Resilient Cities: Climate Action, Innovation and Equity” held in Pune.

BAIF’s renewable energy-powered campuses around Pune, demonstration of agrovoltaics technology, nurturing of youth to work on hi-tech agriculture value chains while generating employment, innovated feed supplement to reduce enteric fermentation by 20 per cent, the one-acre wadi model created by tribal families in sequestering 50 tons of carbon annually and its replication by NABARD and Tribal Development departments in more than 22 states and conservation of more than 700 varieties of millets and rice by tribal communities which have been processed and supplied by startups to Pune and Mumbai, were some of the examples quoted by Dr. Kakade in demonstrating how economy and ecology can go hand in hand. Social enterprise promotion, rural incubation, disaster management, land degradation control and improving soil health, agroforestry, spineless cactus promotion, chain of Naharis (tribal restaurants) for supply of healthy native food, participation in the Conference of the Parties at the global level and a landscape-based catchment management approach were also highlighted as some of the other climate action initiatives of BAIF.

Earlier, Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar, former Director General, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), mooted the concept of More from Less for More (MLM) for inclusive and sustainable innovation. Other invited panel members included Dr. Priyadarshini Karve, Convener, Indian Network on Ethics and Climate Change, Dr. Gurudas Nulkar, Professor and Director, Centre for Sustainable Development, Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics and Mr. Amarnath Karan, Scientist SE in Urban Programmes, Centre for Environment Education (CEE) who focussed on co-existence of environment and ecology, awareness generation and co-creation of different models. Ms. Prachi Shevgaonkar, Founder, Cool The Globe, moderated the discussions.

October 08, 2025: This was another red-letter day in the history of BAIF. The outstanding work of BAIF in financial inclusion and bridging the gender-digital divide was recognised with the conferment of the ‘Digital Naari Award 2025′ in the category of Exemplary Contribution in Gender Inclusion and Access’ by PayNearby, a leading FinTech company and spearheading the national movement for financial inclusivity. The award recognised BAIF’s initiatives in ensuring last-mile digital and financial inclusion through its innovative eDost programme. This recognition was a celebration of BAIF’s commitment to empowerment of rural women by their participation in the digital ecosystem thereby paving the way for their self-confidence and self-reliance. The award was received by Dr. Rajashree Joshi, Programme Director and Ms. Pooja Majgankar, Programme Manager, BAIF from Ms. Nupur Chaturvedi, CEO, NPCI Bharat Connect during the Global Fintech Festival 2025 held in Mumbai.

This recognition is a thunderous applause for all the thousands of women in Rural India who are breaking traditional barriers and empowering themselves with digital and financial skills and paving the way for a silent revolution in their community.

September 13, 2025: The BAIF Journal, a quarterly publication, has been a strategic tool for communication and sustainable development since the last 45 years. Over the years, the journal has showcased the programmes of BAIF and facilitated networking with various stakeholders at the global, national, and regional levels.

The July-September issue of the BAIF Journal with its theme “Nurturing Innovation: Incubation and Social Enterprise for Rural Transformation”, was released at the BAIF Board of Trustees meeting held at the Head Office of BAIF in Pune in the presence of Mr. Hrishikesh Mafatlal, Chairperson, Board of Trustees, Mr. Sunil Lalbhai, Chairperson, Finance Committee and Human Resources Committee of Trustees, Trustees – Mr. Kishor Chaukar, Dr. Anil Kakodkar and Mr. Girish Sohani, Managing Trustee and President – Dr. Bharat Kakade, Group Vice President – Finance,   Mr. Shrinivas Kulkarni,     Vice President –  Finance  –    Ms. Pritam Chandak and Legal Executive and Joint Secretary – Ms. Rasika Mendhekar.

Aug 24, 2025: BAIF team represents mini-India, stated Ramon Magsaysay and Padma Shree recipient, Dr. Prakash Amte at the 59th Foundation Day celebration of BAIF Development Research Foundation at Uruli Kanchan, Pune, while hailing the graphical rise of BAIF. Dr. Amte traced the genesis of tribal upliftment in the disadvantaged region of Gadchiroli in Maharashtra, their right to education and strong value system.

Aug 15, 2025: The 79th Independence Day of our great motherland and its entry into the 80th year of independence, was celebrated with patriotic pride and enthusiasm in all the operational areas of BAIF in the country.

The flag hoisting ceremony at the BAIF Head Office in Pune, was marked by a ceremonial guard of honour followed by the unfurling of the national flag at the hands of Dr. Bharat Kakade in the presence of Mr. Shrinivas Kulkarni, Dr. Avinash Deo, Mr. Mukul Baviskar and the Administrative and Programme staff and their children. Dr. Kakade called upon the need for streamlining women through entrepreneurship development, innovations, skilling, promotion of technologies in rural areas and their greater role in sustainable development. He also emphasised on the role of rural youth in the development of the country and their active involvement in the programmes of BAIF and especially through social enterprises. He highlighted the outreach of BAIF which is 4 million families at present and cumulative 7 million families and BAIF’s Vision 2030 which aims at bringing about a positive change in the lives of 10 million rural families and our alignment with Viksit Bharat@2047 for unprecedented prosperity and sustainable development. Mr. Shrinivas Kulkarni expressed the need to focus on People’s Organisations, FPOs, SHGs, innovations, role of social enterprises which has emerged as a strong pillar of BAIF and promotion of the products of our SHGs for their empowerment. He along with Dr. Deo made a plea to promote swadeshi products and to initiate this at the home, local community and at the society and organisational levels. Others who spoke on the occasion included Mr. Baviskar, Prashant Dudhade and Sucharita Dhar.

July 17: Mr. Christian Jack, Deputy Consul-General and Ms. Garima Shewkani, Economic Diplomacy and Visits Manager from the Australian Consulate-General, Mumbai, visited BAIF, Pune to explore the scope for strengthening Indo-Australian collaboration in the development sector. The visit also rekindled the relationship which was established 45 years ago.

Dr. Bharat Kakade, President, BAIF, highlighted the opportunity for BAIF to host satellite centres of Australian technical skilling institutions in India and the potential for joint initiatives in knowledge transfer, curriculum co-creation and capacity building for rural youth.

Mr. Christian Jack, expressed hope in strengthening social, economic, financial and networking ties with BAIF by exploring partnerships between BAIF and academic institutions, startups, scientific and research organizations and venture capital firms based in Australia and with the Australian Chamber of Commerce for potential partnerships with corporates. He presented the Certificate of Achievement to BAIF under the Australian Consulate-General, Mumbai’s Direct Aid Program 2024–25 for the initiative “Empowering Rural Communities for Agricultural Resilience and Sustainable Livelihoods” in 10 villages of Wardha district, Maharashtra. BAIF had received the Consul-General, Australian Consulate-General, Mumbai, to the project area in October 2024.

Mr. Shrinivas Kulkarni, Group Vice President – Finance, shared BAIF’s plan to incubate 30 rural-focussed startups in FY 2025–26 through the BAIF Incubation Centre, set up in collaboration with the Maharashtra State Innovation Society (MSInS). He also emphasized on the scope for strategic collaboration with Australian incubators and accelerators in the agri-tech space. Dr. Rajashree Joshi, Programme Director, presented BAIF’s integrated development model. Ms. Pritam Chandak, Mr. Sanwarmal Chejara, Mr. Dharmesh Bhavsar, Mr. Yogesh Sawant and Ms. Sucharita Dhar also interacted with the delegation.

July 9-11, 2025: In the Knowledge Summit held in 2018 in Delhi, experts from India and France shared their concerns on facing nutrition and food security resulting from the increasing frequency of extreme climatic events. They recognized agroecology transition as a key lever to face these challenges and agreed on the need to enhance innovation capacities by combining scientific research with the expertise of stakeholders. The project entitled “Towards Climate-smart and Nutrition Sensitive Food Systems” (CliNSFoodS) is a living lab initiative to experiment agroecology in a stakeholder innovations context. BAIF established the CliNSFoodS living lab in 2021 at Bilikere in Mysuru district of Karnataka with the support of Indo-French research collaboration.

In this background, an experience-sharing workshop was organised by the Indo-French Cell for Water Science, Bangalore and BAIF Development Research Foundation, Pune to update the status of the living lab and explore the way forward. The workshop was held during 9-10 July 2025 at the Interdisciplinary Center for Water Research, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, followed by the field visit to the project location at Bilikere on 11 July 2025.

Living lab initiatives with an emphasis on agroecological transitions from India, Senegal and Morocco were presented and future course of action to counter changing climatic conditions and ensure agricultural sustainability were discussed. Experts from diverse domains shared their experiences in ensuring farm sustainability and building resilience. The farmers practicing agroecological practices on their farms also shared their views on the need to ensure farm sustainability.

The workshop participants included Dr. Laurent Ruiz (Indo-French Cell for Water Science), Dr. Shekhar Muddu (Indian Institute of Science), Dr. Bharat Kakade and the living lab project team of BAIF, Dr. Smitha Krishnan (Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT), Mr. Mame Birame Sene (Dytale, Senegal), Mr. Kolade Akakpo (CIRAD, Morocco) and representatives from ATREE, WASSAN and Rainforest Alliance.

June 13, 2025: The BAIF Journal, a quarterly publication, has positioned itself as a strategic communication tool of BAIF for more than four decades. The April – June issue of the BAIF Journal with its theme “Women Entrepreneurship”, was released at the BAIF Executive Committee of Trustees meeting held in Mumbai in the presence of Mr. Hrishikesh Mafatlal, Chairperson, Executive Committee of Trustees,   Trustees – Mr. Sunil Lalbhai, Mr. Kishor Chaukar,  Mr. Sharad Upasani and Mr. Girish Sohani, Managing Trustee and President – Dr. Bharat Kakade, Group Vice President – Finance, Mr. Shrinivas Kulkarni and Legal Executive and Joint Secretary – Ms. Rasika Mendhekar.

June 06, 2025: In a landmark collaboration, the Government of Maharashtra, BAIF Development Research Foundation and Axis Bank Foundation signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for inclusive development of Gadchiroli, Maharashtra in the presence of Hon’ble Chief Minister, Shri Devendra Fadnavis at Gadchiroli.

The event was graced by Mr. Avishyant Panda, District Collector, Gadchiroli, Dr. Bharat Kakade, President, BAIF, Dr. Raviraj Jadhav, Regional Director, BAIF, Mr. Advait Majmudar, Senior Vice President & Group Head, Government Coverage Group, Axis Bank and Mr. Kapil Bhatra, Assistant Vice President & State Head, Rest of Maharashtra, Government Coverage Group, Axis Bank. Mr. Shailesh Bhagat, Chief Programme Manager, BAIF, was also present on the occasion.

This partnership blends the strategic intent of Axis Bank Foundation’s Sustainable Livelihood Programme with BAIF’s strength of sustainable rural transformation. Together, this collaboration is committed to enhance livelihoods through resilient agricultural practices, improved livestock management, development of micro-enterprises and stable market linkages. The partnership focuses on scalable, sustainable solutions to improve the lives and livelihoods of rural communities of Gadchiroli.

Hon’ble Chief Minister Shri Devendra Fadnavis emphasized, “This alliance exemplifies how government, corporate, and civil society can unite to drive transformative change.”

Dr. Bharat Kakade, President BAIF, highlighted BAIF’s role in ensuring “Policy and finance translate into tangible improvements in people’s lives.”

Ms. Dhruvi Shah, Executive Trustee and CEO, Axis Bank Foundation, said, “Through our partnership with BAIF, we are working to enhance income-generating opportunities for rural households in Gadchiroli driven by collective efforts with local stakeholders.”

The ceremony concluded with a pledge to track measurable progress and publish annual impact reports, ensuring transparency and accountability in Gadchiroli’s development.

BAIF is committed to sustainable development and climate action for the reversal of the chronic poverty plaguing rural communities and guiding them towards improved livelihood opportunities through promotion of climate-smart technologies. BAIF along with NABARD, State Bank of India Foundation, R G Manudhane Foundation for Excellence and Cargill Business Services, has been implementing various development programmes for upliftment of Gadchiroli district.

June 02, 2025: BAIF Development Research Foundation with its strong commitment to Development Research and significant contribution to this sector, has once again been certified as a Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (SIRO) by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India. This certification, valid for the period 2025 – 2028, enables legitimate access to technical support, resources and expertise, ensuring expansion of BAIF’s research capabilities, greater credibility and scope for global branding.

April 27, 2025: BAIF Rural Innovation Centre (BRIC) at Urulikanchan, Pune in Maharashtra, the first-of-its-kind Rural Knowledge Centre in a peri-urban area, was inaugurated by Shri. Giriraj Singh, Hon. Union Minister for Textiles, on April 27, 2025 in the presence of Dr. Bharat Kakade, President, BAIF, Shri. Sarveshwar Prasad Singh, MLC, Bihar, Shri. Ravi Madan, MD and Mr. Sanjay Agrawal, FiveF Agroecology LLP, senior officials from the Textiles Ministry and BAIF.

The Hon. Minister highlighted how a self-reliant rural economy can make a significant contribution to the Hon. Prime Minister’s mission of Atmanirbhar Bharat. He  emphasized the importance of scalable, replicable models implemented by BAIF through its on-going field programmes and by those being demonstrated at the Innovation Centre such as cactus value chain, plant propagation techniques, agrivoltaics, energy alternatives, soil enrichments, animal nutrition, animal genetics and land degradation neutrality initiatives in fostering climate mitigation and adaptation pathways while augmenting rural livelihoods. He encouraged BAIF to extend the high potential demonstrations at the Innovation Centre to various parts of the country.

Dr. Kakade in his address, stated that this innovation centre has evolved from the need to respond to the well-being and empowerment of the rural communities. He further stated that this unique centre will serve as a knowledge hub by providing information, resources and training on renewable and non-conventional energy technologies, livestock and dairy management demonstration. This centre will help generate employment opportunities for village youth through social enterprises and skills development, provide access to cutting-edge technologies and innovations and ensure scope for collaborative research. This innovation hub spread on 24 ha, will also focus on natural and organic farming practices along with artificial intelligence-driven technologies for promotion of sustainable climate-smart agricultural practices among the rural communities.

Apart from BAIF Senior team – Dr. Jayant Khadse, Mr. Rakesh Warrier, Mr. Pramodkumar Takawale, Dr. Vitthal Kauthale, Dr. Sachin Joshi, Dr. Shivaji Sontakke, Dr. Rahul Bahulikar and Mr. Sadashiv Nimbalkar, progressive leaders of Urulikanchan region were also present on this occasion.