The five areas of focus are: Integrated Climate Resilience Breeding; Sustainable Soil, Water, and Carbon Management for Climate Mitigation; Research based Climate-Adaptive Mechanization and Precision Agriculture - Tools, Techniques, Apps and Digital Advisory Systems; Agro-ecology and Diversified Farming Systems for Nutrition and Resilience; and Predicting, Preventing, and Managing Climate-Induced Pest and Disease Outbreaks.

Climate change presents a significant challenge to India's agricultural sector, with erratic weather patterns and new pest and disease profiles. The problems are compounded by the decline in soil, water, and air quality. This call for proposals seeks to bridge the gap between discovery research and translational research by fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and engaging all stakeholders from the start of the project. The process is a multi-phase exercise, starting with an initial Letter of Interest (LoI). Up to two winning proposals will be selected for support.

The project has a duration of three years, with a possible two-year extension upon review. The funding is up to Rs. 1 Crore per year. The proposals should demonstrate multidisciplinarity and inter-institutional collaboration, with clear objectives, deliverables, and a stated impact. The LoI must include a research program outline, a statement on the group's expertise, and an impact assessment across social, environmental, health, and economic dimensions.

Scientists or teams of scientists who can bring in other specialties and expertise for interdisciplinary work are eligible to apply. This includes interdisciplinary and multi-institutional consortia from any combination of academic institutions, public research bodies, and private entities. This includes Central, State, Private, and Deemed Universities, National Institutes, ICRISAT, State Agricultural Universities (SAUs), Public-funded research organizations and labs, and Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs). Rural Innovation Centres and Incubators, Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), and NGOs working in sustainable agriculture, natural farming, and climate resilience are also eligible. Municipal bodies engaged in urban agriculture and nutrition, agri-tech and climate-tech innovators, startups, and SMEs can also apply.

For the Letter of Intent (LoI), a team must include several key components. You must also provide clear evidence of pre-submission consortium discussions for the work packages and how they will be integrated. The names and contact information of all involved Principal Investigators (PIs) and the research organizations must be provided, clearly indicating the primary applicant, secondary applicants, and collaborators. The Proposed Research Programme section, which has a 1,000-word limit, must outline the research question, hypothesis, a brief methodology, the proposal's novelty, its deliverables, and its importance for Indian agriculture. Additionally, the expertise of the group must be detailed in a separate section of 200 words. The impact of the proposed work on social, environmental, health, farmer/agri-centric, and economic dimensions must also be described, with each dimension having a 250-word limit.

For more information, visit Ignite Life Science Foundation.