NARI is an NGO and non-profit research and development institute established in 1968. The Institute undertakes research and development in agriculture, renewable energy, animal husbandry and sustainable development.

The basic philosophy of the Institute is to solve the age old problems of rural India with the use of modern science and technology. NARI has pioneered the concept of using sophisticated technologies like nanotechnology and biotechnology for rural development. The areas of R&D are agriculture, renewable energy, animal husbandry and sustainable development.

The Institute is housed in spacious buildings (total covered area is about 3500 m2 ) and has about 40 hectares of farm with year-round irrigation facilities for research purposes. NARI also has well-equipped laboratories with sophisticated analytical instruments and computational facilities, a full-fledged workshop, an animal husbandry laboratory, an A Class Weather station and an excellent chemistry laboratory. Most of the hardware is fabricated in the workshop.

Dr. Anil K. Rajvanshi, Director & Hon. Secretary of NARI has nearly 30 years of experience in renewable energy R&D and rural development. He did his B.Tech and M.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from I.I.T. Kanpur in 1972 and 1974 respectively. He received his Ph.D. in Mech. Engg. from University of Florida, Gainesville, USA in 1979. He was also on the faculty of University of Florida (Dept. of Mechanical Engineering) for 2.5 years before returning to India in 1981 to work in a small rural NGO – Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) in Phaltan, Maharashtra.

Dr. Rajvanshi is the principal investigator of 30 projects funded by various national and international agencies. He has authored/co-authored more than 160 publications in various national and international journals including 35 editorial articles on sustainable development and spirituality in some of the major newspapers and magazines of India. He has also written chapters in books entitled Alternative Energy in Agriculture (CRC Press, U.S.A. 1987) and Gandhi in 21st Century (Prachee Publications, Hyderabad, 1999). Dr. Rajvanshi has lectured and given seminars at many leading Universities in India and in US. Dr. Rajvanshi has seven patents to his credit. He has written a book Nature of Human Thought in which he has made an attempt to synthesize the ancient Indian Yogic thought with modern cosmology and brain research.

To read about the work NARI is doing, visit www.nariphaltan.org