New Delhi: On the occasion of Kisan Diwas 2025, ITC reaffirmed its long-standing commitment to India’s agricultural transformation with the launch of ‘Mitti Mera Desh – Tales from the Heartland’, a storytelling-led campaign that celebrates farmer success stories from across the country. The initiative aligns with the Government of India’s ‘Meri Maati Mera Desh’ programme and underscores ITC’s focus on building climate resilience in agriculture.
Rooted in ITC’s Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) programme, the campaign brings to life authentic, human-centred narratives that reflect the lived experiences of farmers and the tangible impact of ITC’s interventions across the agri value chain. With a century-long association with Indian agriculture, ITC positions Mitti Mera Desh as a tribute to the Indian farmer and a reaffirmation of its role in advancing the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision.
Aligned with National Priorities
Inspired by the Union Government’s ‘Meri Maati Mera Desh’ initiative launched in 2023 as part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, the Mitti Mera Desh series captures grassroots stories that highlight ITC’s contribution to strengthening climate resilience in farming communities. The campaign showcases how science-led, scalable solutions are enabling farmers to adapt to climate change while improving productivity and incomes.
Building Climate Resilience at Scale
ITC’s Climate Smart Agriculture programme focuses on de-risking farmers from climate variability by promoting regenerative agriculture, climate-resilient crop varieties, improved agronomy, mechanisation, and nature-based solutions. The programme spans key crops including wheat, rice, soybean, onion, fruits, and spices, and encourages practices such as zero tillage, direct-seeded rice, raised-bed planting, mulching, and alternate wetting and drying.
To address water stress, ITC promotes crop- and area-specific solutions such as micro-irrigation, wider spacing, and trash mulching across crops including paddy, sugarcane, wheat, soybean, fruits, and vegetables. During 2024–25, the CSA initiative benefitted 1.2 million farmers across nearly 3.2 million acres in 19 states, with a 2030 target of covering 4 million acres.
In parallel, ITC is transforming villages into Climate Smart Villages (CSVs), an initiative that now spans 7,000 villages across 12 states. The CSV framework is built on four pillars—Climate Smart Agriculture, Natural Resource Management, Livelihood Diversification, and Institutional Support—aimed at enhancing holistic village-level resilience to climate change.
Recognising soil health as the foundation of sustainable agriculture, ITC undertakes initiatives such as tank silt application, compost and toilet manure use, zero tillage, happy seeder and surface seeding, site-specific nutrient management, region-specific soil fertility mapping, biofertiliser promotion, and catchment treatment to improve Soil Organic Carbon (SOC).
Advancing Gender Inclusivity in Agriculture
ITC also places strong emphasis on empowering women in agriculture and allied livelihoods. Through interventions such as Women Farmer Field Schools, Krishi Sakhis, and Women Agri Business Centres, the Company promotes CSA practices to enhance yields, incomes, and resilience. During 2024–25, ITC disseminated scientific and technological best practices to over 1.8 lakh women, strengthening gender inclusivity across agri value chains.
NextGen Agriculture and ITCMAARS
As part of its NextGen Agriculture vision, ITC is advancing a three-pronged strategy encompassing the expansion of ITCMAARS, its Climate Smart Agriculture programme, and a sharpened focus on Value-Added Agri Products (VAAP).
ITCMAARS, the Company’s pioneering ‘phygital’ agri-tech ecosystem, accelerates technology adoption while improving efficiencies, market access, and financial inclusion for farmers. Operating across 11 states, the platform currently empowers over 2.2 million farmers and 2,050+ Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), supported by more than 100 partners. Pilot results indicate up to 30% higher farmer returns and 15–20% yield gains, with a 2030 target of supporting 10 million farmers and 4,000 FPOs.
Under its VAAP portfolio, ITC is scaling high-potential categories such as spices, shrimps, wheat-based products, coffee, processed fruits and vegetables, and medicinal and aromatic plant extracts. Anchored in food safety and sustainability, the initiative aims to build traceable, demand-driven value chains and connect Indian farmers to global markets.
Mitti Mera Desh – Tales from the Heartland forms a key pillar of ITC’s broader ‘Nation First’ narrative, which has previously been articulated through campaigns such as Desh Ek Raag, Desh: Inn Haathon Se Ban Raha Bharat, and ITC: India Inspired, reinforcing the Company’s commitment to inclusive and sustainable national development.
