Agricultural Sciences

In 2021, SreePVF expanded the Sree Ramakrishna Paramahamsa Research Grant to include the agricultural sciences. The grant aims to provide last-mile funding for novel and sustainable solutions that benefit small and marginal farmers in India. This program provides a 50-lakh grant over two years to individuals and institutions whose work aligns with our mission to improve agriculture practices and promote sustainable solutions in the field. At SreePVF, we believe that through research and innovation, we can help drive progress and make a positive impact on society.

Grant at a Glance
The 5th edition of the grant call is currently open for applications; Last date for submission of Preliminary application is 30 April 2025, deadline extended to 10 May 2025.
Grant Name : Sree Ramakrishna Paramahamsa Research Grant
Type of Research: Agricultural
Level of Funding: Upto Rs.50 lakh
Duration of Funding: 2 years
Objective of the Call
The proposed projects for Sree Ramakrishna Paramahamsa Research Grants in Agriculture shall focus on the following major criteria:
- Science-based innovative solutions in any branch of Agricultural Sciences through translational research with the scope of immediate deployment.
- Curated towards the needs of small and marginal farmers.
The objective of these grants is to support translational research, based on excellent science, in the agriculture sector to achieve last-mile accomplishment. The research outcome shall support the generation of a better livelihood and enable the empowerment of the rural farming community in India with an emphasis on small and marginal farmers.
Wherever applicable, all grantees will also be provided, free of cost at a location in Andhra Pradesh, access to agricultural land with workshop facilities to validate their ideas and demonstrate the same to farmers.
Important Timeline
SreePVF is currently accepting applications under this call. Last date for submission of preliminary application is 30 April 2025.

Application Process:
- Preliminary Application Evaluation for remit, eligibility and competitiveness
- Peer review of selected applications
- Short-listed candidates will be requested to submit a full application
- Review and Interviews of short-listed candidates for the final award
Applications for two-year grants are invited from interested individuals and teams from recognized universities, Government research institutes and not-for-profit research organizations.
The grant is envisaged as an enabler to deliver ready-to-deploy solutions for small and marginal farming communities. The outcome of the research, while based on advanced scientific knowledge, shall be readily translated into a fully sustainable solution featuring innovation, relevant to the farming community, cost-effective and easily accessible. The applicant shall emphasize the immediate deployment of the technology or research solution to the benefit of farmers.
Possible focus areas, although not limited to, of the grant are listed below:
- Climate resilient cropping/agriculture systems, post-harvest technologies, Agri wastes to wealth for farmers, safety of workers during farm operations, Crop management, Agronomy, Plant protection, Crop improvement, Novel variety/hybrid field trial, Food compositional analysis, Food safety study, Soil management, Water management, Organic farming, Sustainable agriculture, Precision farming, Seed processing and storage, Agriculture biotechnology, Artificial intelligence (AI) in agriculture, Internet of Things (IoT) in agriculture, Big data analytics in Agriculture, Farm machinery, Agro forestry, etc.
Institutional Eligibility
Individuals and teams from recognized universities, R&D institutions, and recognized non-profit research organizations in India are eligible to apply.
Proposals can come from a single institution or multiple institutions.
International Collaborations
International collaborations are eligible, but the lead organization must be based in India, and the funds will only be provided to the Indian side of the expenditure.
You’ll need to provide a strong justification for why the collaboration is essential for the execution of the project, what value it will add to the proposal, and why the work cannot be carried out in India.
Highlight any regulatory approvals needed from the Indian government for the collaboration, as well as material transfer.
Principal Investigator Requirements
The Principal Investigator should be below 50 years of age as on 30 April 2025. The upper age limit for a woman PI can be up to 55 years as on 30 April 2025.
Funding Restrictions
Grants cannot be used for the salary of investigators.
You’ll need to have already secured a salaried job and space and support from the host institution before applying.
Sree PVF grants are not intended to duplicate support available from the Indian government or other sources.
If you’ve already received substantial funding for your core activities or similar work, you’ll only be eligible if you can demonstrate that the activity for which funding is sought is additional to the work for which you had already received funding from other sources.
Terms and Conditions
All successful awards are contingent upon acceptance of our non-negotiable Terms and Conditions. To avoid delays in accepting the award and initiating the projects, we advise applicants to consult and review these terms with the appropriate departments in their institution early on in the process.
Maximum Budget
The maximum budget for each grant is Rs. 50 lakh.
Grants will be disbursed in two tranches, with each tranche no more than Rs. 25 lakh per year.
Eligible Costs
Eligible costs for funding include capital expenditure (equipment), manpower, consumables, travel (no international travel) and local hospitality, contingency, overheads, field trials, safety studies, outsourcing, and others, such as training and awareness, workshops, publications, review meetings, etc., based on the requirement of the project.
Flexibility in Utilizing Budget
Sree PVF offers flexibility to the applicant in how they wish to utilize the budget as long as the requested costs are commensurate with the proposed research and are strongly justified.
Salary for Investigators
However, it’s important to note that the salary for investigators is not included in the grant.
The host institution is expected to provide salary and research support for the duration of the grant period.
Important Note
Budget indicated will be inclusive of all applicable taxes (GST and TDS included) and Institutional overheads.
Scientific Novelty and Innovation: What innovative and novel solutions are proposed?
Relevance to Farming Community: How will the proposed solutions benefit small and marginal farming communities?
Sustainable solutions: Are the proposed solutions sustainable and easily accessible?
Cost-effectiveness: Does the proposal showcase cost-effectiveness?
The expertise of Applicants: What is the expertise of the applicant in fulfilling project objectives?
Readiness to Deploy: Is the proposed technology or research solution at a reasonable readiness level for deployment upon project completion?
Green Technology: Does the proposed project adhere to green technology principles?
Responsibility: Is the timeline and budget for the project on completion reasonable?
Click here to download the format for the preliminary application.
Soft copies of the duly filled-in application must be emailed as a single consolidated PDF file to sreepvf.agriculture@gmail.com before 30 April 2025. The file name of the submitted application must be the full name of the lead applicant in the format “first name last name.pdf” Hard copies are not required.
Short-listed candidates will be required to submit a full proposal (format will be shared only with those selected) and present the research proposal before a selection committee through an online presentation.
Review Committee
Five eminent scientists from the field of Agriculture in India constitute the review committee.
Chair
Members of the Committee (2021-2024)
- Professor L S Shashidhara, TIFR-NCBS, Bangalore; IISER, Pune; Ashoka University, Sonepat
- Dr Alok Kalra, Central Institute of Medicinal & Aromatic Plants, P.O. (CIMAP), Lucknow
- Dr Navin Sharma, International Agriculture Consulting Group
- Dr M. Sujatha, ICAR-Indian Institute of Oilseeds Research, Hyderabad
- Dr Alok Krishna Sinha National Institute of Plant Genome Research
Staff

Dr Ponnari Gottipati
Grants Manager - SreePVF Foundation

Dr Amit Das
Coordinator and communication – Startup Cofounder, former Scientist at DuPont Knowledge Center, Hyderabad
Previous Awardees
2024: Dr B. Sailaja, ICAR-Indian Institute of Rice Research, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, Telangana and her collaborators for developing “RAISE – Rice AI Stress Evaluator”
2024: Dr Himanshi Jangir, University of Petroleum Energy Studies (UPES), Dehradun, Uttarakhand for development of a Novel Eco-Friendly Nano-Agriculture Strategy for Small-Marginal Farmers of Higher Himalayas: A Nano-Pyrite Based Seed/Root/Shoot Treatment Approach for Improving Potato Yield and Dairy Green Fodder Production
2024: Dr Shahid Rasool, CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Jammu for Development and Demonstration of a Novel Production Model Integrating Lavender in High Density Apple Production Systems for Enhanced Farm Profitability from Resource Use Optimization and Environmental Sustainability through Improved Agro-ecology of the Farming Systems
2023: Dr. Sachin A Mandavgane, Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur, and his collaborators for Valorization of post-harvest agro waste (with C/N >50) using indigenous fibrinolytic enzymes.
2023: Dr. Srinivas Kiran Ambatipudi, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, and his collaborator for building a Virtual Cow Care System Using Cow Infra Red Imaging Analytical (CIRAN) System.
2023: Dr. Sunny Dhir, Maharishi Markandeshwar, Mullana, Ambala and his collaborators for Development of ASSURRED (affordable, sensitive, specific, user friendly, robust, reusable, equipment-free, deliverable) Biosensor for the detection and management of major apple viruses.
2022: Dr. P. Lavanya Kumari, S. V. Agricultural College, Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University, and her collaborators for building an Artificial Intelligence based modeling of major pests in Rice crop to promote Forewarning advisory services in Andhra Pradesh.
2022: Dr. Koushik Mazumder, National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute, and his collaborators for developing a novel edible coating material for the postharvest quality improvement of perishable fruit crops
2021: Dr Jagadis Gupta Kapuganti, National Institute of Plant Genome Research (NIPGR) for his work on developing a novel and cost-effective technology to prevent post-harvest losses of fruits