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Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) is an NGO and a non-profit research and development institute. NARI is registered under the Societies Registration Act XII of 1860 and the Bombay Public Trust Act of 1950. It is situated in the rural town of Phaltan (a taluka, 300 km southeast of Mumbai) in Maharashtra state. NARI was established in 1968 and it successfully completed its 50 years in 2018.

The basic philosophy of the Institute has been to solve the age-old problems of rural India through application of excellent science and technology. Consequently, highly innovative research and development work has been undertaken on a shoestring budget in the areas of agriculture, renewable energy, animal husbandry and sustainable development.

NARI has successfully completed more than 90 projects in the past 50 years with a total funding of Rs. 180 million (worth Rs. 450 million in 2018). Every rupee spent by NARI on funded projects has generated a revenue of approximately 150 rupees. And the legacy continues…

This legacy and “Romance of Innovation” can be further continued with the help of your generous donations.

For purchasing all the products developed by NARI please visit this site.

Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) is an NGO and a non-profit research and development institute. NARI is registered under the Societies Registration Act XII of 1860 and the Bombay Public Trust Act of 1950. It is situated in the rural town of Phaltan (a taluka, 300 km southeast of Mumbai) in Maharashtra state. NARI was established in 1968 and it successfully completed its 50 years in 2018.

The basic philosophy of the Institute has been to solve the age-old problems of rural India through application of excellent science and technology. Consequently, highly innovative research and development work has been undertaken on a shoestring budget in the areas of agriculture, renewable energy, animal husbandry and sustainable development.

NARI has successfully completed more than 90 projects in the past 50 years with a total funding of Rs. 180 million (worth Rs. 450 million in 2018). Every rupee spent by NARI on funded projects has generated a revenue of approximately 150 rupees. And the legacy continues…

This legacy and “Romance of Innovation” can be continued with the help of your generous donations.

For purchasing all the products developed by NARI please visit this site.

Our Work

LATEST NEWS

- Dr. Anil Rajvanshi has published his 7th book (Kindle format) entitled “What is Thought? – A neurobiological and physical basis of its production and transmission”. October 2024. His other books are here.
- A magazine (in Marathi) about the important people of Phaltan was recently published (August 2024). A nice story on Dr. Rajvanshi was published in it.
- It is matter of great pride that Dr. Anil Rajvanshi, the Director of NARI addressed the 6th Convocation of IIT Palakkad as a chief guest. The convocation was held on 20th July 2024. The speech in pdf format is here and the Youtube of the address is here.
- Our work on development of small scale biomass furnace was published in Current Science. It was also prominently displayed on the cover of the Journal (June 24, 2024 issue).
- Dr. Anil Rajvanshi has been featured in a new book “100 Great IITians – Dedicated to the Service of Nation”. The book has been edited by Commander VK Jaitley and contains stories about the icons of India.
- On 12 March 2024 Dr. Rajvanshi gave an Institute lecture at IIT Kanpur. The lecture titled “Life Lessons from a Spiritual Engineer” was received nicely by the student community.
- In January 2024 Dr. Rajvanshi gave a talk in the webinar organized by IIT Kanpur Incubation cell. Dr Nikhil Agarwal, CEO of Incubation cell moderated the program. The title of the talk was “Some Technological Challenges in Agriculture”. About 100 participants attended it and the talk ended with a lively Q/A session.
- Dr. Anil Rajvanshi was interviewed on Khulke.com Real Life Heroes series. The interview (English/Hindi format) covered his journey from US back to India; challenges in running NARI; problems solved for
  rural areas and advice to youngsters. 27 December 2023.
- The pioneering work of NARI on the invention of e-rickshaws was published in South
  Asia Monitor. 25 December 2023.

The archived news are available here.

In Memoriam
B. V. Nimbkar (1931-2021)

Mr. B. V. Nimbkar the founder of NARI passed away peacefully at his home on 25 August 2021. He was 90 years’ old.

Mr. Nimbkar started the first private seed company in India – Nimbkar Seeds in 1964 and Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) was established in 1968 to do R&D in producing better seeds for the local farmers.

He did his masters in Agronomy from the University of Arizona in 1955 and came back in 1956 to Phaltan to start farming and later set up Nimbkar Seeds Pvt. Ltd. and Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute. In the early 1980s, he was the Vice-Chairman and M.D. of MAFCO, a Government of Maharashtra undertaking. He was also a consultant to the world bank and was a director of the Central Bank of India before its nationalization.

He was a visionary and initiated research in many novel subjects. His mind was always bubbling with new ideas and has been a source of inspiration to not only those in India but the people the world over. Not only his ideas but his compassion, capability, generosity, and love of life inspired many. He had a drive not equaled by many.

In 2006 for his pioneering work in agricultural research he received Padma Shri from the Government of India and in 2016 he received the Jamnalal Bajaj Award in the use of S&T for rural applications.

Trying to bring his ideas to fruition will be a real tribute to his memory.

50 years of NARI

NARI completed its 50 years in 2018. The year-long Golden Jubilee celebrations kicked off with an inaugural function on 17th of March, 2018. A souvenir, detailing the 50 year history of NARI including the major events, achievements and accolades of NARI, was released as a part of the event. The 50 years journey is captured nicely in this video.

Watch NARI's Video

Padma Shri Award to Anil Rajvanshi

Dr. Anil Kumar Rajvanshi was given the Padma Shri one of the highest civilian award by President of India Ramnath Kovind on 21st March 2022. The citation of the award read:

Dr. Anil Kumar Rajvanshi is the Director of Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute (NARI), Phaltan, Maharashtra. Dr. Rajvanshi’s research in rural development for the last three decades has spanned a whole spectrum of areas affecting the lives of rural population. In this he was the first person to promote the use of high technology for rural development – an idea that is in vogue nowadays.

Dr. Rajvanshi is a grassroot scientists and under his leadership NARI has many first to its credit. NARI is the principal author (1996) of national policy on energy self-sufficient Taluka which was managed by MNRE. His group pioneered the development of electric rickshaws in late 1990s. He developed a unique program of improving cooking and lighting technology for rural areas which led him to pioneer the concept of rural restaurants in 2012. This probably led to the setting up of Amma’s kitchen in Tamil Nadu and Shiva Bhojan in Maharashtra. In early 1990s, his group at NARI set up the world’s largest program on production of ethanol from sweet sorghum. This led to NARI being the only Institute in India to be made a member of EEC sweet sorghum consortium. NARI developed the first non-spiny hybrid safflower and various varieties. In late 1990s he pioneered the concept of using ethanol as cooking and lighting fuel for rural areas and his group pioneered the development of loose biomass gasification system in late 1990s. His group also pioneered the production of potable water via rainwater harvesting using low cost unelectrified solar-based water purifier. And his efforts have shown how a small rural S&T Institute working on shoestring budget can pioneer technologies for rural India.

Padma Shri Award