Critical questions on ICAR answered here!

The Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) is the torch bearer for agricultural research and innovation. Here we answer all the pertinent questions that students and educational institutions wish to ask related to ICAR

By Shazil Ahmed

The Indian Council for Agriculture Research (ICAR) has been there for 90 plus years in India and it is an autonomous body functioning under the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India. ICAR has served the country very well by acting as an apex body driving research and coordination in agriculture and allied sciences such as horticulture, fisheries, and to a certain extent animal husbandry.

The research stations of ICAR have developed technologies that have helped accelerate the production of food supplies for the ever-growing population of India. Also, ICAR provides accreditation to institutions running courses in agriculture sciences through its National Agricultural Education Accreditation Board (NAEAB).

Do institutions require prior approval from ICAR to start agriculture programs or what approvals do they need?

The answer is not straightforward to this question and many institutions interpret this to match their preparedness and some prepare very genuinely as per the guidelines defined by ICAR for starting new institutions.

To get a proper answer one needs to understand the higher education system in India.

1. It is mandatory to get approval from an agriculture university to start degree programs in agriculture for colleges and the degrees will not be valid if affiliation with a university does not exist.

2. Private universities must get approval from the respective state legislative assembly and also, get section 2(f) approval from the UGC.

Private universities need to follow the guidelines of ICAR for starting new colleges and universities. An important thing to note is that the private universities are unitary and not allowed to affiliate colleges outside the university premises.

ICAR has clarified its stand on this via public notice Ref: F.No.Edn.7/7/2017-EQR where they have mentioned that ICAR does not approve for permission to open/start/close of college/institution/university to offer programs in agricultural sciences. However, it is required that all institutions offering academic programs in agriculture science comply with minimum requirements and academic regulations prescribed by ICAR

Is it fair that on the one hand, it is voluntary, and on the other hand ICAR blocks students from non-ICAR institutions from writing AIEEA/JRF tests?

This question is very unfair and most of the time raised by institutions that fail to comply with the norms specified by ICAR for starting & running agriculture institutions. This is a very important check which was been placed by ICAR that would encourage institutions to adopt best agriculture practices and develop minimum required infrastructure and manpower to ensure holistic development of students and make them future-ready.

It is important to understand that ICAR does not stop all students of non-accredited colleges from writing the AIEEA/JRF. The details are prescribed in the recommendations made by National Agricultural Education Accreditation Board (NAEAB) in its XXVI Meeting held on 17th September 2020 and subsequent approval accorded by Governing Body of ICAR in its 251st meeting held on 15.10.2020, the first batch passes out/appeared/appearing students of a graduate or postgraduate program (UG/PG) in Agriculture & Allied Science subject from public- funded/Govt. institutions (within or outside the ICAR-AU system) or Private Agriculture and Allied Science colleges which have not been accredited by ICAR (irrespective of the fact whether they have applied to ICAR for accreditation or not) shall be exempted from the requirement of ICAR accreditation for appearing in and seeking admission through AIEEA(PG) and AICEJRF/SRF(Ph.D.).

This exemption, however, shall not apply to the already passed out first batch students or batches after the first batch from these institutions for appearing and seeking admission through the ICAR’s AIEEAs to be held in subsequent Academic Sessions until and unless the institutions acquire ICAR accreditation (Ref public notice: F. №1(6)/2018-Exam Cell-Part(IV)).

What is the eligibility criterion for ICAR accreditation?

ICAR has declared the minimum requirements for the establishment of the new college in agriculture and allied disciplines. For example, an institution offering B.S.c (Hons.) Agriculture with a minimum intake of 60 students per year should have a minimum of 30 Hectare of land in plain regions and 16 Hectare of land in the hill, Island, and coastal regions along with a minimum of 45 teachers spread across 20 departments i.e. Agronomy, Agricultural Economics, Horticulture, Microbiology, Soil Science, etc (Total strength after four years should have 45 teachers as faculty. However, in extreme cases, it can be 31 and few courses viz. Basic Sciences and Humanities, Maths and Computer Sciences, etc). The complete details on Divisions/Departments/Sections, Manpower Requirements, Section-wise land allocation, Central Facilities, Laboratories, and more are listed on ICAR’s website (The document can be accessed from the link: https://icar.org.in/files/MinimumRequirements_Final.pdf)

Academicians & Scientist’s opinion about ICAR and its role in Agriculture Education for the academic & farming community

I spoke to some of the leading academicians from agriculture and allied disciplines to understand this topic based on the ground reality of things and following their thoughts:

Dr. D L Maheshwar, Former Vice-Chancellor of University of Horticulture Sciences, Bagalkot, Director of Horticulture at Government of Karnataka & Also, and Former Vice-Chancellor of BESTIU, Anantapur says “ICAR is a torch-bearing institute that has made the concept of agriculture education easy to understand for all. ICAR regulates the norms and values in the delivery of quality knowledge to students. Also, ICAR is the apex body that is looked at for curricula for training & vocational education”.

Dr. Anupati Raja Reddy, Dean at the School of Agriculture at Malla Reddy University and an academician with vast experience in Agriculture Education opined, “ICAR’s contribution to agriculture education has been a very important one and I recommend that they make a process of provisional accreditation where the ICAR team visits institutions before the start of the course and give approval based on the available infrastructure and then review the outcome after the first batch passes out. This will help the student community in leveraging the benefits of the entrance exams where eligibility is fixed for students from ICAR only institutions”.

Dr. Bhimpappa Kittur a scientist from the Indian Institute of Forest Management (Bhopal) with vast experience in academia avers, “ICAR has played a very important role in the spread of scientific knowledge to various stakeholders. The Council have also ensured a proper flow of knowledge and protected the interest of agriculture community by bringing discipline in the academic institutions”.

Dr. Praveen Kumar, who was named as best microbiology teacher in 2021 by CPAI says, “If best practices are in place and the excellence is shown in practical implementation then blocking students from such institutions because of accreditation criteria is unfair. I hope ICAR will bring some new policies to fix this problem”.

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(Shazil Ahmed is presently the Vice President, CollPoll. He has been the Ex Registrar, BEST Innovation University.)