New Delhi (thestates.news)| Secretary, Department of Land Resources (DoLR), Shri Narendra Bhooshan, emphasised the need to move from responding to droughts after they occur to building resilient dryland landscapes through integrated watershed development, technology and community participation, while speaking at the Dryland Congress 2026 Partner Spotlight at the National Agricultural Science Complex (NASC), New Delhi, on “Reimagining Drylands: Institutions, Digital Public Infrastructure and Community Action for a Climate-Resilient Future.”
The Dryland Congress 2026, being held in New Delhi from September 10, has emerged as an important international platform for deliberation on the future of dryland agriculture. The Congress has brought together more than 800 participants from over 25 countries, including scientists, policymakers, development partners, industry representatives, academicians, civil society organisations and farmers, to exchange knowledge and deliberate on science-, technology- and policy-based approaches for building resilient and sustainable dryland agricultural systems.
Shri Bhooshan said that “drylands are not wastelands”, but living and productive landscapes whose potential is constrained by climatic variability. Rainfed agriculture covers about 61.39 million hectares, or 43% of India’s net sown area, and contributes around 40% of the country’s food production. (S-PIB)
