Dryland Congress 2026 Ends with Adoption of the Delhi Declaration on Drylands

1
The three-day Dryland Congress 2026 in New Delhi, organised by ICAR and ICRISAT, closed on 12 September 2026 with the adoption of the Delhi Declaration on Drylands (3D).
2
The closing day coincided with the UN Day for South-South Cooperation; the Congress theme was 'Transforming Dryland Agriculture with South-South Cooperation'.
3
DARE Secretary Dr M.L. Jat proposed that ICAR-NIAP lead foresight work on dryland agriculture; the inaugural ISSCA Global Awards drew 170 nominations from 34 countries.

●Outcome: Delhi Declaration on Drylands (3D), endorsed at the closing plenary on 12 September 2026 - a shared Global South agenda for dryland agriculture.
●Organisers: ICAR and ICRISAT; theme 'Transforming Dryland Agriculture with South-South Cooperation'.
●UN Day for South-South Cooperation (12 September) marks the adoption of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action on 12 September 1978.
●ICRISAT: CGIAR centre, HQ Patancheru (Hyderabad), set up under a 1972 India-CGIAR agreement; Director General Dr Himanshu Pathak.
●DARE: set up in December 1973 under the Agriculture Ministry; its Secretary is also Director General of ICAR (Dr M.L. Jat).
●Proposal: ICAR-National Institute of Agricultural Economics and Policy Research (ICAR-NIAP) to lead dryland foresight work.
●ISSCA Global Awards 2026 (inaugural): 170 nominations from 34 countries; Mega Awards to ICARDA, CIMMYT and Odisha Livelihoods Mission.
●UNCCD, the global treaty on desertification, was adopted in Paris on 17 June 1994 and entered into force in December 1996.

upsc

GS Paper 3 > Agriculture > Dryland Farming; GS Paper 2 > International Institutions

★Which date is the UN Day for South-South Cooperation, and what does it commemorate?

Delhi Declaration on Drylands (3D)

Declaration adopted at Dryland Congress 2026 setting a South-South agenda for transforming dryland agriculture.

Triangular cooperation

South-South cooperation supported by a developed country or multilateral partner.

•Delhi Declaration on Drylands adopted 12 September 2026, Dryland Congress, New Delhi (ICAR + ICRISAT).
•12 September = UN Day for South-South Cooperation (Buenos Aires Plan of Action, 1978).
•ICRISAT HQ: Patancheru, Hyderabad; a CGIAR centre.

•Do not confuse the Delhi Declaration on Drylands with the BRICS 'New Delhi Declaration' adopted the same week.

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Factual

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