Thirty seven years ago, the vision of the architects of the Village Level Studies (VLS), now known as the Village Dynamics Studies (VDS), was truly remarkable. Today, ICRISAT has broadened the area of this study to cover not just rainfed farming, but also irrigated crops like rice. We will continue to invest in this jewel of ICRISAT to enhance its relevance and include the new realities under the strategic framework of inclusive market-oriented development (IMOD),” said Director General William D. Dar.

Dr Dar was speaking at the inaugural session of the 4th Annual Review Meeting (ARM) of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-funded Village Dynamics Studies in South Asia Project held at the ICRISAT headquarters on 18-19 September.

"Rainfed agriculture has many challenges and is not remunerative. We need to reinvent and re-engineer rainfed agriculture to make it profitable for smallholder farming. This will mean identifying options to make the rural economy viable and sustainable," Dr Dar added.

The annual review meeting with the theme “Transformation of rural economies in South Asia: Insights from Village Dynamics Studies,” discussed the progress made and achievements in the collection, processing, and dissemination of data and research findings. Key research findings indicate that the rural economy has rapidly been transforming in South Asia with new technologies, policies and opportunities for higher employment and income.

The VDSA project is being jointly implemented by ICRISAT, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and National Centre for Agricultural Economics and Policy Research (NCAP), in partnership with national institutes in Bangladesh and India.

The meeting benefited from valuable comments and feedback from experts like Jim Ryan, former Director General of ICRISAT and leader of the first generation VLS; Hans Binswanger, a pioneer of the first generation VLS and Advisor, VDSA Project; MJ Bhende; MG Chandrakanth; and Impact assessment expert Jeff Davis. The online participation of the Gates foundation’s representative Tuu-Van Nguyen during several sessions was very useful in gleaning the donor’s perspective and feedback.

Among those who participated in the meeting were project advisors TS Walker and NS Jodha; project leaders MCS Bantilan (Research Program Director, Markets, Institutions and Policies) and Ramesh Chand (Director, NCAP); project coordinators Uttam Deb, Madhu Bhattarai, Anjani Kumar and P Parthasarathy Rao (ICRISAT) and Humnath Bhandari (IRRI) and project team members, some of whom presented papers. Project members and those from partner institutes (UAS Dharwad and UAS Bangalore) actively participated in the deliberations and discussions.

Also featured during the meeting was a discussion about the Village Dynamics Studies Knowledge Bank, which is in the final stages of development. The Knowledge Bank, once completed, will be a single source repository of household survey data collected by ICRISAT since 1975 from six village level study (VLS) villages in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, India, and of all the data collected through the Village Dynamics in South Asia (VDSA) project from 42 villages in India and Bangladesh (2009 onwards).