Global agricultural research centre, ICRISAT, has launched ISSCA, a new platform to promote agrotech cooperation between countries in the Global South.
The ICRISAT Centre of Excellence for South-South Cooperation in Agriculture (ISSCA) will help share proven farming solutions like improved seeds, digital tools, and climate-smart methods that are already being used successfully in similar regions.
The centre was launched in New Delhi, during the Conference on Global South and Triangular Cooperation: Emerging Facets, yesterday. The centre is a joint initiative by Hyderabad-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), a policy research organisation supported by the Indian government.
Alongside the launch, ICRISAT signed an agreement with DAKSHIN, a Government of India programme focused on building development partnerships in the Global South. The partnership will support training, policy exchange, and technology sharing across countries that face common challenges in farming—such as drought, low soil fertility, and lack of access to technology.
ISSCA: Spotlight on Asia, Africa and latin America
The ISSCA platform is designed to help countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America learn from each other’s farming experience. It will focus on simple and affordable agritech solutions that are already in use—like drought-tolerant crop varieties, low-cost soil testing tools, water-saving techniques, and mobile-based farm advice.
ICRISAT Director General Dr Himanshu Pathak said the Global South already has many working solutions, but there is no common platform to share them quickly and widely.
“The innovations are there. What we need is a way to connect them across borders. ISSCA will help countries in the South support each other by sharing what works, instead of waiting for outside models that may not fit.”
Dr Pathak also acknowledged the role of RIS in helping shape the new centre. He said the partnership reflects ICRISAT’s long-term goal of making science accessible and useful for farmers across different regions with similar needs.
RIS Director General Professor Sachin Chaturvedi said ISSCA is meant to bring farmers’ real-life solutions into the policy space, so that governments can adopt and support them at scale.
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“Through DAKSHIN and RIS, we are trying to connect field-level experience with national planning,” Professor Chaturvedi said. “ICRISAT’s centre will help turn these ideas into action—not just on farms, but also in the way agriculture policy is made across the Global South.”
ICRISAT has been working for over 50 years to improve farming in dryland areas. It has developed crop varieties like the world’s first commercial pigeonpea hybrid and biofortified pearl millet, and has supported farmers with climate-smart methods in both Asia and Africa.
The new ISSCA centre will be backed by a group of international and national partners. These include the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (India), the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
In the first phase, ISSCA will start mapping successful agritech innovations and helping countries adapt them to their local needs. It will also offer a digital platform where partners can exchange knowledge, set up joint projects, and connect researchers with policymakers.
The launch of ISSCA also reflects a growing shift in global agriculture—where solutions are not just developed in labs, but shaped through collaboration between farmers, researchers, and institutions in similar conditions. By creating a space where local innovations can be shared across borders, ICRISAT hopes to build stronger regional networks that reduce duplication, save time, and put practical tools in the hands of those who need them most.