NRAA holds national consultation on data gaps in India’s rainfed farming areas

The National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA) organised a one-day national consultation on “Quality Data Generation and Dissemination for Efficient Project Planning and Implementation in Rainfed Areas of India” on 8 July 2026 at the NASC Complex, PUSA, New Delhi, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

The consultation aimed to give research organisations a platform to showcase their expertise and data-sharing capabilities, while allowing state line departments to raise their data needs and the challenges they face in acquiring quality data for project planning in rainfed regions. The ministry said comprehensive datasets on rainfall, soils, land use, water resources, crop performance, socio-economic conditions, climate risks, watershed characteristics and natural resources are needed to help policymakers design location-specific interventions and assess project outcomes.

Dr. Chandra Shekhar Kumar, CEO of NRAA, said accessibility of quality data at the end-user level was essential, noting that government schemes implemented at the grassroots level would have greater impact if related base data were available. He said standardised quality data should be easily accessible so that users can formulate more impactful, outcome-oriented strategies.

The consultation included two technical sessions. The first covered data collection and challenges in storage and dissemination, with representatives from IMD, NBSSLUP, BISA-IARI, IWMI, MNCFC and CRIDA presenting datasets they generate and maintain. The second session focused on data requirements for project planning and bottlenecks faced by users, with participants from Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar raising concerns about data accessibility.