The paper analyzes trends in public and private R&D investment levels, research capacities and priorities in Indian agriculture. At the national level, the public investment in agricultural R&D has attained significant spurt in the middle of the 2000 decade, and its allocation was quite diversified to address the research needs of marginal production environments. The wet semi-arid region comprising agrarian and poverty stricken states of West Bengal, Odisha, Assam, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh still continue to under-invest in agricultural research and education. The private investment in agricultural R&D though has responded well to the country's size of agricultural market and incentives; still there is a dearth of a strong R&D base in the private sector, especially in the small- and medium-sized firms. A leadership role is to be taken by the public sector to harness private sector's potential and address market failure in R&D.