The Value Addition, Research & Development (VARD) - Agriculture is one of the pioneering departments of NIF dedicated to incubating agricultural innovations and sustainability across India. Adopting creativity, harnessing traditional knowledge and local ingenuity to address pressing agricultural challenges, the department serves as a keystone for transforming grassroots innovations into viable agricultural solutions. The department undertakes a wide array of activities aimed at improving agricultural productivity, enhancing crop resilience, and ensuring environmental sustainability.

Key activities of the department include the meticulous scientific documentation and validation of grassroots innovations in agriculture, ensuring these practices are scientifically sound and economically feasible. This involves rigorous field trials, laboratory testing, and collaboration with research institutes to validate the efficacy and scalability of these innovations. By integrating traditional knowledge with scientific research, VARD - Agriculture develops low-cost, high-impact agricultural technologies and solutions tailored to the diverse agro-climatic conditions of India that can enhance farmers' incomes and sustainability.

Also, the VARD Agriculture Department facilitates the intellectual property protection of grassroots innovations, providing innovators with the necessary legal support to patent their technologies and register the plant varieties developed at the PPVFRA. By organizing workshops, training programs, and awareness campaigns, the department empowers farmers with knowledge and tools to adopt and adapt innovative technologies, driving a wave of agricultural transformation across the country. Through its comprehensive approach, this Department is instrumental in bridging the gap between rural ingenuity and contemporary agricultural advancement.