ITC launches ‘Mitti Mera Desh’ series highlighting climate-smart farming practices

New Delhi: On the occasion of Kisan Diwas 2025, ITC announced the launch of Mitti Mera Desh, Tales from the Heartland, a storytelling initiative focused on farmer experiences linked to climate-smart agricultural practices. The campaign aligns with the Government of India’s Meri Maati Mera Desh initiative and highlights grassroots narratives connected to agricultural resilience and sustainability.

The series draws from ITC’s Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) programme, which addresses environmental and social challenges arising from climate change across agricultural value chains. Through farmer-led stories, the campaign documents the impact of climate-resilient practices implemented across multiple regions.

Mitti Mera Desh builds on the government-led Meri Maati Mera Desh initiative launched in 2023 as part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. According to the company, the campaign focuses on lived experiences of farmers and reflects outcomes from interventions across ITC’s agri ecosystem.

ITC’s CSA programme promotes regenerative farming practices, climate-resilient crop varieties, improved agronomy, mechanisation and nature-based solutions. The interventions span crops such as wheat, rice, soybean, onion, fruits and spices, and include practices such as zero tillage, direct-seeded rice, raised-bed planting, mulching, and alternate wetting and drying.

To address water efficiency, ITC supports crop- and region-specific agronomic practices and micro-irrigation techniques across crops including paddy, sugarcane, wheat, soybean, fruits and vegetables.

During 2024–25, the CSA programme covered nearly 3.2 million acres across 19 states, benefiting around 1.2 million farmers. The company has stated a target of expanding coverage to 4 million acres by 2030.

Climate Smart Villages and soil health initiatives

ITC has been working on the development of Climate Smart Villages (CSVs), which currently cover about 7,000 villages across 12 states. The framework focuses on four areas: climate-smart agriculture, natural resource management, livelihood diversification and institutional support.

Soil health forms a key component of the programme, with initiatives including tank silt application, compost and toilet manure use, zero tillage, surface seeding, region-specific soil fertility mapping, biofertiliser promotion and catchment treatment to improve soil organic carbon levels.

ITC has also undertaken targeted programmes for women in agriculture and allied livelihoods. These include Women Farmer Field Schools, Krishi Sakhis and Women Agri Business Centres. During 2024–25, scientific and technological best practices were disseminated to more than 1.8 lakh women, according to the company.

ITC’s NextGen Agriculture strategy includes the expansion of ITCMAARS, its ‘phygital’ agri-tech platform, alongside its CSA programme and Value-Added Agri Product (VAAP) portfolio.

ITCMAARS provides farmers with access to digital marketplaces, credit facilities, predictive and prescriptive advisories, and technology-led services such as AI-driven crop advisory tools, IoT solutions, drone services and Gen AI-based voice support through Krishi Mitra.

Mitti Mera Desh, Tales from the Heartland forms part of ITC’s broader Nation First narrative, which has previously included campaigns such as Desh Ek Raag, Desh: Inn Haathon Se Ban Raha Bharat, and ITC: India Inspired.

Watch the film here: