The centre promotes Eco-technologies to concurrently reduce the poverty and improve the natural resource base. The main pathways are enhancing agriculture productivity, conserving natural resources, building resilience and collective action at the field level. The interventions to enhance agriculture production and augmenting natural resources are complementing each other in addressing the issues of livelihoods and natural resource use. In the process, it strives to address the issues related to barriers in technology adoption, enhance the asset endowments and improve the market access. It strives to achieve sustainable development in agriculture through nurturing socio-economical dimensions in technology adoption and innovation as well as institutionalisation through social enterprise approach. The key research and developmental interventions are focussing on;

Agriculture – Sustainable Development

1. Strengthening Seed production Systems covering agro technologies on seed production, quality testing, processing and seed storage
2. Farming Systems for improved productivity and diversification through Climate Smart Technologies

1. Climate information for Adaptive risk management with a specific focus to climate communication  on integrated climate forecasts and advisories 

Water: Scientific management of groundwater resources

1. Ground water recharge technologies and establishing Participatory Hydrological Monitoring systems
2. Promoting technologies to increase Water Use Efficiency and use of ICT tools for water management
3.  Participatory Vulnerability Assessment framework and plans development for water bodies and rainfed systems 

1. Evaluation of ground water recharge technologies on environmental, economical, institutional and social dimensions

Soil: Restoring Soil health and fertility status

1. Developing a simple soil health testing kits,
2. Technologies to increase the soil carbon sequestration
3. Increase the use of biological inputs and improve the soil ecosystem Services and

1. Analyse the socio-economical and technical viability of technology adoption and innovation

Institutional innovations to improve small-holder competitiveness

1. Building Institutions: The centre promotes the institutional mechanisms for technology adoption, build value chains and natural resources conservation to harness the collection action for improving the access to productive resources.

1. Socio economic dimensions in technology adoption and upscaling: study the constraining and enabling factors and processes in technology adoption and innovations vis-a vis institutions and ecological, economic and social impacts.

Ongoing Projects

• Livelihood enhancement of the small farmers in SAARC region through small scale agro-business focusing on value chain development
• Transforming India’s Green Revolution by Research and Empowerment for Sustainable food Supplies (TIGR2ESS)
• Enhancing Livelihoods of farmers through small scale floriculture models in Villupuram  district, Tamil Nadu Adopting Social Capital Credits System (SoCCS)
• Enhancing Crop Diversity and Productivity of Small Farmers through Augmentation of Water Resources in Mailam block, Villupuram district, Tamil Nadu state” – Phase II
• Rice Bio-Park 
• Plant Clinic programme
• Promotion of Plant Clinics for Safe Vegetable production in   Oddanchatram region of Dindigul (dt.), Tamil Nadu 
• Picture Based Insurance Bundled with Picture Based Advisories for Sustainable and Scalable Risk Management Services
• Gramin Krishi Mausam Sewa (GKMS)
• Enhancing Women Farmer’s Adaptive Capacity to address the Challenges of Climate Change
• Climate Change Impacts, Vulnerability and Adaptation: Food Security and Livelihoods – A case Study of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu
• RESILIENCE: Small holders Adaptation to Climate Change
• Videos for Farmers
• Smart Farming Initiative using modern ICTs