Location : 212 Building, ICRISAT Campus Hyderabad, India
Date : 2026-02-12 09:00:00
About the course
Dryland regions contribute significantly to global food and nutritional security, yet they remain highly vulnerable to climate variability, resource degradation, and weak agricultural input delivery systems. Among these, seed systems represent the most critical leverage point for enhancing productivity, resilience, and sustainability. This two-week intensive course, developed by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), is designed to strengthen capacities to design, operationalize, and scale resilient, inclusive, and market-responsive seed systems tailored to dryland environments.
The course aims to: Build a systems-level understanding of seed systems in dryland agriculture; Strengthen capacities to design climate-resilient and demand-driven seed delivery models; Promote inclusive approaches with a focus on women, youth, and farmer institutions; Integrate digital innovations, markets, and policy perspectives into seed systems; Support participants in developing actionable, context-specific seed system strategies.
Deadline to apply for the course: 20 January 2026
Who Should Apply
Government officials working in agriculture and seed sector development; Researchers and scientists in crop improvement and seed systems; Extension professionals and development practitioners; NGOs, Farmers’ Organizations, Cooperatives; Private and community-based seed entrepreneurs; Professionals from international development agencies.
Course Topics
Week 1: Foundations and System Design |
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Module 1: Dryland Agriculture and Food Security
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Module 2: Seed Systems Concepts and Frameworks
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Module 3: Crop and Variety Portfolios for Drylands
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Module 4: Climate-Resilient Breeding and Seed Readiness
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Module 5: Seed Quality Assurance and Regulatory Systems
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Week 2: Delivery, Inclusion, Markets and Scaling |
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Module 6: Inclusive Seed Delivery Models
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Module 7: Markets and Demand Creation for Seed
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Module 8: Digital Innovations in Seed Systems
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Module 9: Policy, Institutions and Investment
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Module 10: Designing Resilient Seed System Strategies
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Guidelines to Apply for the Course
Create a login to apply for the course and furnish all the requisite information. Submit the application online and download the submitted application form.
Take a printout of the submitted application form, get appropriate signatures at all the signature placeholders throughout the application form including the English proficiency certificate, medical report, candidate undertaking form and the Employer nomination form;
Scan the complete application document and submit the physical copies of the application form including the undertaking form and the employer nomination form to the Indian High commission in your country and e-mail the scanned copy of the executed application form to vishwambhar.duche@icrisat.org with a copy to babu.potta@icrisat.org
Please note that we have very limited seats for the course and the eligible applications will be shortlisted by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India on First Come First Serve basis. Therefore, if you are interested, we recommend that you submit your application immediately without any delay.
In case you face any technical difficulties in applying for the course, such as portal issues, login issues or any website related errors, please screenshot the errors and email to help@itecgoi.in & cc: vishwambhar.duche@icrisat.org and, babu.potta@icrisat.org
Registration link: ITEC: Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation
Approach and methodology of training: Experiential learning and field visits
Number of participants: 35
Application: The fully sponsored program is exclusive to non-Indian international participants only
