New Delhi: The 6th International Agronomy Congress (IAC-2025) opened in New Delhi on Monday with a call to place smart, sustainable and profitable agriculture at the centre of India’s long-term development goals.
The three-day global event, being held at the NPL Auditorium at Pusa Campus, has brought together more than 1,000 scientists, policymakers, students and industry leaders from India and abroad. The Congress is organised by the Indian Society of Agronomy in partnership with ICAR, IARI, NAAS and TAAS.
Addressing the inaugural session, Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that agronomy must guide the country’s transition to resource-efficient and climate-resilient agriculture. “Agriculture must produce more with fewer resources while conserving more for future generations,” he said, adding that agronomy connects science with field-level realities.
He said recommendations emerging from the Congress will feed into national policies and state-level action plans. Chouhan also released the IAC-2025 Declaration, which outlines proposals including scaling up digital agriculture, promoting soil-carbon sequestration, expanding regenerative and natural farming, youth and women-focused innovation programmes, and aligning farming strategies with Net-Zero 2070 goals.
Minister of State for Agriculture Bhagirath Choudhary said agronomy must address farmers’ primary challenges, from soil stress and climate variability to profitability and nutrition. He stressed strengthening rainfed farming, improving natural resource management, and expanding women’s and youth leadership in agriculture.
Experts from FAO, CIMMYT, ICRISAT, IRRI, ICARDA and IFDC are attending the Congress. Ten thematic symposia will cover climate-resilient agriculture, precision input management, nature-based solutions, energy-efficient technologies, genetic improvement, nutrition-sensitive agriculture, and next-generation education.
ICAR Director General M.L. Jat said India’s agronomy research is shaping global climate-smart agriculture and will contribute significantly to ICAR Vision-2050. Organisers said outcomes from the Congress will reinforce international partnerships, including with the G20, FAO, CGIAR and South–South Cooperation frameworks.
