Press and News At the Vanguard of Food and Nutrition Security: Jai Rana Reaps Indian Academy Endowment Award
PANTNAGAR, Uttarakhand— The National Academy of Agricultural Sciences has awarded Alliance Scientist Jai Rana with the prestigious Dr. L.C. Sikka Endowment Award in recognition of his contributions to food and nutrition security in the country. The biennial award was bestowed during the XVII Agricultural Science Congress.
Agrobiodiversity is at the heart of Jai Chand Rana’s career, spanning more than three decades of research. Rana is the newest recipient of the prestigious Dr. L.C. Sikka Endowment Award for the Biennium 2023-2024 from the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS).
Acting as the Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT’s country representative since 2017, Rana along with Agrobiodiversity team of the Alliance led by Carlo Fadda has spearheaded the delivery of evidence-informed solutions harnessing local agricultural biodiversity towards sustainable and inclusive food systems transformation in India. His research expertise on enhancing crop diversity’s adaptive management for resilient agriculture and improved livelihoods is instrumental to earning the NAAS endowment award—recognizing his efforts to further accelerate the government’s vision for a food- and nutrition-secure India by 2030.
“This is a result of the work jointly undertaken by the Alliance and National Agriculture Research System in India and is a recognition that our work is aligning with the priorities of the countries especially in nutrition and farmers’ livelihoods,” Rana said. “This further motivates me and my team to continue driving forward our mission to enhance agrobiodiversity, strengthen sustainable agricultural practices, and build deeper partnerships with key stakeholders, ensuring a more resilient and food-secure future for India and beyond.”
The Indian government’s Vision 2030 included targets for self-sufficient food production focusing on high farm production and productivity through modern agricultural practices. The Alliance in India, under Rana’s leadership, has been advancing research and management of agrobiodiversity to bolster climate resilience, food and nutrition security, and better livelihoods in the South Asian country.
From tradition to impact
Developed varieties
Secured patents
Registered genetic stocks
Registered farmers’ varieties
Plant explorations
Germplasm accessions collected
Germplasm accessions evaluated
New crops introduced
Rana’s passion for agrobiodiversity research was a direct reflection of his family’s upbringing. Raised in a farming family in the hills of Himachal Pradesh, Rana embraced the deeply embedded traditions of conserving diverse traditional crops.
“This personal connection to the land and its diverse ecosystems inspired me to pursue agrobiodiversity as my research focus, with the goal of preserving these traditional practices while promoting sustainable agricultural solutions for the future,” he shared.
With him at the helm, the Alliance in India propelled forward with multi-stakeholder collaborations to deliver impact at scale. He leads the coordination and implementation of several projects being funded by different organizations including the Global Environment Facility, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and Indian Council of Agricultural Research to strengthen need-based participatory selection of landraces and farmers’ and modern varieties, local seed supply systems, and establishment of community genebanks, among others.
In his 8 years at the Alliance, Rana and his team has also made strides in boosting farmers’ access to crop genetic resources, enabling them to use locally adapted materials that could buffer against unpredictable climate patterns and ensure sustainable agriculture.
Large-scale testing of native varieties of 20 food crops across 17 states in India was achieved in continued research efforts under the United Nations Environment Programme-supported initiative. By mainstreaming the conservation and use of agrobiodiversity, over 300 native varieties with complete and developed value chain have been identified and marketed through various brands priced at 30% to 40% higher than improved varieties.
“This research provides a policy framework focusing on a farmer-centric approach to crop and variety selection, promotion, and market access... This strategy can be replicated globally to enhance benefits of agrobiodiversity,” the award-winning scientist emphasized.
True to its farm-centric approach, the initiative helped establish more than 50 community seedbanks across multiple Indian states to strengthen informal seed systems. Over 4,000 high-quality seeds of native varieties produced in the seedbanks ensure farmers’ access to seeds that are often unavailable through public seed chains.
As a result, more than 100,000 farmers are now cultivating diverse native crops across 200,000 hectares, enhancing climate adaptation, nutritional outcomes, and livelihoods.
An International Agrobiodiversity Community
In 2016, India hosted the first International Agrobiodiversity Congress, a space to gather global knowledge about diverse crops that culminated in the Delhi Declaration on Agrobiodiversity Management. In May 2025, the third iteration of the Congress is scheduled to occur in Kunming, China. Click the link below or visit the official website to learn more.
