The Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, the apex agricultural research institution in the country, has approved and recognised BAIF Development Research Foundation as a Voluntary Centre on Millets (Finger Millets) for conducting various evaluation trials under the All India Coordinated Research Project on Small Millets vide an approval letter F. No. 7 -23/2023-CS-FFC of December 6, 2023.
With ‘Mission Millets’ as its motto during the International Year of Millets and series of field-based programmes and exhibitions arranged by BAIF to showcase its pioneering work on popularisation of millets, this recognition gives a tremendous boost to the agro-biodiversity conservation being implemented by BAIF with special focus on revival and conservation of indigenous landraces of small millets cultivated by farmers in five tribal blocks of Maharashtra.
BAIF is already officiating as the approved Official Centre of theAll India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Forage Crops and Utilization (AICRPFCU), Animal Nutrition and Cattle. It is also a Voluntary Centre of the All-India Coordinated Research Project on Sorghum. Under AICRP on Forage Crops and Utilization, the focus is on development of improved forage varieties and hybrids, generation of intensive forage production technologies, breeder seed production and technology transfer in the field. BAIF recently hosted the National Group Meet: Rabi 2023-24 in Pune where the President and Managing Trustee of BAIF, Dr, Bharat Kakade had proposed a voluntary centre on Small Millets at BAIF during his Keynote Address.
