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Welcome
to
National Conference 2026 on
Fruitful Landscapes for Healthy People and Planet
The conference will catalyse collective action to advance fruit tree-based solutions for food and nutrition security, resilient livelihoods, and climate adaptation. It will bring together researchers, practitioners, policymakers, farmers, and private-sector actors to identify pathways and co-create solutions for scaling fruit diversity, quality planting material, agroecological production systems, landscape restoration, nutrition education, market development, and policy convergence towards building a more fruitful India.
Specific Objectives
• Highlight the role of fruit diversity in nutrition security, nature-positive development, and climate resilience.
• Review scientific, technological, and institutional innovations for quality planting material, nursery systems, and climate-smart fruit production.
• Promote fruit tree-based agroforestry, digital innovation and AI, restoration, and landscape approaches for drylands, tribal areas, hill regions, and other vulnerable ecosystems.
• Explore strategies to improve year-round access to nutritious fruits for children, women, low-income households, and nutritionally vulnerable communities.
• Strengthen convergence among government programmes, research institutions, NGOs, farmer organisations, private-sector actors, and philanthropic initiatives.
• Identify policy, investment, and partnership pathways for scaling CFI approaches across diverse agroecological regions of India.
• Provide a platform for young researchers, field practitioners, farmer institutions, and community innovators to share experiences and evidence.
About Organizers
About Centre for Fruitful India (CFI)
The Centre for Fruitful India (CFI) is a research catalyst, innovation and partnerships hub dedicated to generating scalable solutions for increasing the production, accessibility, affordability, and consumption of nutritious fruits while strengthening biodiversity, climate resilience, and rural livelihoods.
India is one of the world's richest countries in fruit diversity, with a wide range of cultivated, local, minor, wild, semi-wild, and underutilized fruit species adapted to diverse agroecological regions. Many of these fruits are rich in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, dietary fibre, and other health-promoting compounds. They have significant potential to contribute to household nutrition security, climate resilience, biodiversity conservation, women-led livelihoods, and nature-positive farming systems.
Despite this richness, many nutritious fruits remain underutilized, inadequately conserved, weakly linked to quality planting material systems, and largely absent from mainstream nutrition and horticulture programmes. Resource-poor households, particularly in rural, tribal, dryland, hilly, and nutritionally vulnerable regions, often have limited access to diverse, affordable, and locally available fruits throughout the year.
CFI seeks to address these challenges by promoting fruit tree-based farming systems, fruit diversity, quality planting material, community and household-level fruit access, school and Anganwadi linkages, women and youth participation, and partnerships for scaling. The CFI approach aims to move “from tree to mouth” by making nutrient-rich fruits more easily available, accessible, and affordable to low-income communities throughout the year, while strengthening nature-positive and climate-resilient landscapes.
Join the Centre for Fruitful India (CFI) in building a healthier, more resilient, and more fruitful India through research, innovation, partnerships, and collective action. Together, we can unlock the potential of India's fruit diversity for better nutrition, stronger livelihoods, biodiversity conservation, and climate-resilient communities.
About the Indian Academy of Horticultural Sciences (IAHS)
The Indian Academy of Horticultural Sciences (IAHS), established in 1942 and formerly known as the Horticultural Society of India, is a premier national scientific organization dedicated to advancing horticultural education, research, innovation, and development in India.
The Academy provides a common platform for scientists, academicians, policymakers, industry representatives, development organizations, and farming communities to exchange knowledge and promote excellence across horticulture and allied sciences. Through the Indian Journal of Horticulture, scientific congresses, seminars, symposia, expert consultations, and recognition of outstanding contributions, IAHS plays an important role in strengthening collaboration and translating scientific knowledge into developmental impact.
The Academy has played a significant role in fostering scientific excellence, innovation, knowledge exchange, and professional collaboration in horticulture. Its activities bring together expertise from diverse disciplines to address emerging challenges and opportunities in fruit and vegetable production, horticultural technologies, post-harvest management, nutrition, sustainability, and climate-resilient horticulture.
The proposed seminar, to be jointly organized with the Centre for Fruitful India (CFI), will bring together leading experts, researchers, policymakers, practitioners, industry representatives, and other stakeholders to deliberate on emerging opportunities, scientific innovations, institutional partnerships, and actionable strategies for developing a productive, nutritious, climate-resilient, and globally competitive fruit sector in India.
Through collective knowledge, innovation, and collaboration, IAHS and CFI aim to contribute towards a stronger and more sustainable horticulture sector that supports nutrition security, farmer livelihoods, biodiversity, climate resilience, and inclusive agricultural development in India.
Conference Themes
01
02
Quality Planting Material and Innovation Systems
03
Restoring and Managing Fruitful Landscapes
04
Fruits for Child Nutrition, Health and Behaviour Change
05
Scaling Fruitful Landscapes through Policy, Markets and Partnerships
Important Dates
Abstract Submission Deadline
15 September 2026
Notification of Acceptance
18 September 2026
Early Bird Registration Deadline
20 October 2026
Registration Fee
Scientists and Researchers
On Time: ₹5,000
IAHS Members /
Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT
On Time: ₹4,500
Students, Farmer Organisations,
SHGs & Community Representatives
On Time: ₹1,500
Sponsorship Packages
Conference Committee
Patrons
Dr. M.L. Jat
Secretary, DARE & DG, ICAR
Dr. Umesh Maheswari
Founder, Centre for Fruitful India
Chairperson
Dr. Sanjay Kumar Singh
DDG (Horticultural Sciences), ICAR
Co-Chairpersons
Dr. Prem Mathur
CFI's Technical Advisor, Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT &
Scientific Leader and Coordinator, The Kirkhouse Trust SCIO
Dr. Suresh K. Malhotra
Vice Chancellor, Maharana Pratap Horticultural University,
Karnal, Haryana & Vice President, IAHS
Organising Secretaries
Dr. V.B. Patel
Assistant Director General,
Horticultural Science Division, ICAR, New Delhi
Dr. J.C. Rana
Senior Scientist and Country Representative for India,
Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT, New Delhi
Advisory Committee
-
Dr. Chris J. Kettle
Principal Scientist, Lead Tree Biodiversity for Resilient Landscapes,
Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT -
Professor Kamal Bawa
Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Biology, University of Massachusetts &
Founder-President, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment -
Ms. Seema Paul
Programme Director,
Sequoia Climate Foundation -
Dr. H. P. Singh
Former DDG (Horticulture), ICAR -
Dr. S. P. Ghosh
Former DDG (Horticulture), ICAR -
Dr. A. K. Singh
Former DDG (Horticulture), ICAR -
Dr. Neelam Patel
Senior Adviser, NITI Aayog -
Dr. Prabhat Kumar
Horticulture Commissioner, Government of India -
Mr. Ajit Jain
Joint Managing Director,
Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd., Jalgaon, India -
Dr. P. K. Joshi
President, Agricultural Economics Research Association &
Vice President, National Academy of Agricultural Sciences -
Dr. Bharat Kakade
President and Managing Trustee,
BAIF Development Research Foundation -
Dr. Danda Raji Reddy
Vice-Chancellor,
Sri Konda Laxman Telangana Horticultural University -
Dr. D. R. Singh
Vice Chancellor,
Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bhagalpur -
Dr. R. S. Chandel
Vice Chancellor,
SDAU, Kushinagar -
Dr. Harminder Singh Baweja
Vice Chancellor,
Dr. YSRUH&F, Solan -
Dr. Vishnuvardhana
University of Horticulture Sciences,
Bagalkot -
Dr. K. Dhanumjaya Rao
Dr. YSR University of Horticulture,
West Godavari -
Dr. M. L. Chadha
Former Director,
AVRDC – The World Vegetable Center -
Dr. S. Rajan
Former Director,
ICAR-Central Institute for Sub-Tropical Horticulture, Lucknow -
Dr. R. K. Pal
Former Director,
ICAR-NRC on Pomegranate, Solapur -
Dr. S. K. Mitra
Former Dean,
BCKV, Kalyani
Scientific Committee
-
Dr. Gina Kennedy
Principal Scientist,
Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT -
Dr. Smitha Krishnan
Senior Scientist,
Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT -
Dr. B. M. C. Reddy
Former Vice-Chancellor, YSR Horticulture University,
West Godavari, Andhra Pradesh & Vice President, IAHS -
Dr. T. K. Behera
Director, ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research,
Bengaluru -
Dr. Mahendra Kumar Verma
ICAR-Central Institute of Temperate Horticulture,
Srinagar -
Dr. R. A. Marathe
Director, ICAR-National Research Centre on Pomegranate,
Solapur -
Dr. T. Damodaran
ICAR-Central Institute for Sub-Tropical Horticulture,
Lucknow -
Dr. Bikash Das
Director, ICAR-National Research Centre on Litchi,
Bihar -
Dr. J. Dinakara Adiga
Director, ICAR-Directorate of Cashew Research,
Puttur -
Dr. K. Balachandra Hebbar
Director, ICAR-Central Plantation Crops Research Institute,
Kasaragod -
Dr. Dilip Ghosh
Director, ICAR-Central Citrus Research Institute,
Nagpur
Organising Committee (Conveners)
-
Dr. Ram Asrey
ICAR-IARI, New Delhi -
Dr. Jai Prakash
ICAR-IARI, New Delhi -
Dr. Shyam Sundar Dey
ICAR-IARI, New Delhi -
Dr. Nripendra Vikram Singh
ICAR-IARI, New Delhi -
Dr. P. C. Tripathi
ICAR, New Delhi -
Dr. Anjani Kumar Jha
ICAR, New Delhi
About New Delhi
New Delhi, the capital of India, is a vibrant city that represents the country's political, cultural, historical, and economic identity. Located in the National Capital Territory of Delhi, New Delhi serves as the seat of the Government of India and is home to the Parliament of India, Supreme Court, Rashtrapati Bhavan, and numerous national institutions. The city combines India's rich historical heritage with modern infrastructure, making it an important destination for education, research, conferences, business, tourism, and international events.
New Delhi was formally inaugurated as the capital of British India in 1931, following its development as the new imperial capital designed by architects Sir Edwin Lutyens and Sir Herbert Baker. Since independence in 1947, the city has evolved into the centre of India's democratic institutions and a major metropolitan hub. Today, New Delhi is known for its historic monuments, grand avenues, museums, gardens, cultural institutions, markets, and diverse culinary traditions.
The city offers a unique blend of ancient heritage and modern urban life. From the historic monuments of the Mughal and colonial eras to modern institutions, shopping districts, art galleries, cultural centres, and world-class hospitality, New Delhi provides visitors with a rich and diverse experience.
Places to Visit in New Delhi
New Delhi and the wider Delhi region offer numerous attractions for visitors, ranging from magnificent historical monuments and museums to gardens, temples, cultural centres, and vibrant markets.
- India Gate: One of New Delhi's most iconic landmarks, this monumental arch stands as a memorial to Indian soldiers and is surrounded by expansive lawns.
- Rashtrapati Bhavan: The official residence of the President of India and one of the finest examples of monumental architecture in New Delhi.
- Parliament House: An important symbol of India's democratic institutions and a prominent architectural landmark in the heart of New Delhi.
- Qutub Minar: A UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of India's most celebrated historical monuments, featuring the magnificent Qutub Minar complex.
- Humayun's Tomb: A magnificent Mughal-era monument and UNESCO World Heritage Site, widely regarded as an architectural inspiration for the Taj Mahal.
- Red Fort: A historic Mughal fortress and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Old Delhi, closely associated with India's history and Independence Day celebrations.
- Lotus Temple: A distinctive architectural landmark known for its lotus-shaped structure and its message of peace and unity.
- Akshardham Temple: A magnificent cultural and spiritual complex showcasing Indian architecture, art, traditions, and heritage.
- National Museum: One of India's largest museums, housing an extensive collection representing the country's rich archaeological, artistic, and cultural heritage.
- Connaught Place: A major commercial and entertainment district known for its distinctive colonial architecture, restaurants, cafés, shops, and cultural attractions.
How to Reach New Delhi
New Delhi is one of India's best-connected cities and can be conveniently reached through an extensive network of airways, railways, metro services, and roadways. Its excellent connectivity makes it highly accessible for national and international conference participants.
- By Air: The Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) is the primary airport serving Delhi and the National Capital Region. It provides extensive domestic and international connectivity to major cities across India and destinations around the world.
- By Rail: New Delhi is a major railway hub with important stations including New Delhi Railway Station, Old Delhi Railway Station, Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station, and Anand Vihar Terminal. These stations provide extensive rail connectivity to cities across India.
- By Metro: The Delhi Metro provides fast and convenient connectivity across Delhi and the National Capital Region. It connects major railway stations, commercial areas, residential districts, and important landmarks, making it one of the most convenient ways to travel within the city.
- By Road: New Delhi is well connected to neighbouring states and major cities through an extensive network of national highways and expressways. Regular bus services, taxis, and private vehicles provide convenient road connectivity to destinations across northern India.
New Delhi – A City of Knowledge, Culture and Opportunity
New Delhi is home to several premier universities, research institutions, government organizations, international agencies, cultural institutions, and corporate establishments. Its strategic importance and excellent infrastructure make it a preferred destination for national and international conferences, academic meetings, exhibitions, workshops, and professional gatherings.
With its rich historical heritage, world-class connectivity, diverse cultural experiences, and modern hospitality infrastructure, New Delhi offers an ideal setting for conferences, academic events, professional interactions, and tourism.
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