The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) will organise a curtain-raiser and media interaction at the Central Soil Salinity Research Institute in Karnal, Haryana, on October 15, ahead of the Emerging Science, Technology and Innovation Conclave (ESTIC)-2026.
The conclave will be held from October 27 to 29 at Bharat Mandapam, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
M. L. Jat, Secretary of the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) and Director General of ICAR, will address the curtain-raiser and outline the council’s participation in ESTIC-2026. The programme will include a media interaction on agricultural technology, food systems and nutrition.
ICAR is directly associated with the conclave’s “Agri-Tech, Food Systems and Nutrition” session, one of 12 major thematic sessions, scheduled for October 29.
The session will be chaired by the DARE Secretary and ICAR Director General, along with the Secretary of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries. It will feature a keynote address, presentations by a deep-tech startup CEO, a woman entrepreneur and science and technology leaders, followed by a panel discussion.
ICAR’s participation will highlight advances in artificial intelligence, robotics, digital agriculture, advanced crop improvement, gene editing and sustainable agricultural systems. The council will also showcase innovations at the conclave’s exhibition.
Researchers from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, National Institute for Plant Biotechnology and National Rice Research Institute are among the listed speakers.
ESTIC-2026 is being organised by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research under the Ministry of Science and Technology, with guidance from the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser. The National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology is the organising partner.
The three-day event will bring together government departments, researchers, innovators, deep-tech startups, industry, policymakers, funding agencies and global experts to showcase research and strengthen collaboration in emerging and critical technologies.
Participating organisations include the departments of Atomic Energy, Biotechnology, Science and Technology, Higher Education, Health Research, Space and Telecommunications; the ministries of Ayush, Earth Sciences, and Electronics and Information Technology; and DRDO, ICAR, ICMR and ISRO.
Nobel laureates, international experts and industry leaders will also participate. The conclave aims to support collaboration towards Viksit Bharat by 2047, with ICAR focusing on sustainable, technology-driven agricultural and food systems.
