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ACADEMIC ZONE
INDIAN COUNCILl OF AGRICULTURE RESEARCH
ICAR - Indian Council of Agricultural ResearchThe ICAR is an autonomous apex national organisation registered as a society which plans conducts and promotes research, education, training and transfer of technology for advancement of agriculture and allied sciences
The ICAR was set up on 16 July 1929 on the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Agriculture. The ICAR is an autonomous apex national organisation registered as a society which plans, conducts and promotes research, education, training and transfer of technology for advancement of agriculture and allied sciences.The ICAR was set up on 16 July 1929 on the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Agriculture. The Union Minister of Agriculture is the President of the ICAR. Its principal officer is the Director-General. He is also the Secretary to the Government of India in the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE). The General Body, the supreme authority of the ICAR, is headed by the Minister of Agriculture, Government of India. Its members include the Minister of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries and senior officers of the various state governments, representatives of the parliament, the agro-industries,scientific organisations and farmers. The ICAR receives funds from the Government of India and from the proceeds of the Agricultural Produce Cess. Rs. 13,000 million were allocated to it during the VIII Plan. Agricultural Scientists' Recruitment Board (ASRB) is an independent recruiting agency of the ICAR for its Agricultural Research Services (ARS) and equivalent technical posts and also for research management positions. The Council has a National Academy of Agricultural Research Management (NAARM), which provides required training to new entrants to the Agricultural Research Services. This vast network of ICAR which includes Institutes, Bureaux, National Research Centres and Project Directorates has a manpower of about 30,000 personnel out of which nearly 7000 are engaged in active research and its management. Twenty nine Agricultural Universities (SAU) employ about 26,000 scientists for teaching, research and extension education; of these over 6000 scientists are employed in the ICAR supported coordinated projects. ICAR acts as a repository of information and provides consultancy on agriculture, horticulture, resource management, animal sciences, agricultural engineering, fisheries, agricultural extension, agricultural education, home science and agricultural communication. It has the mandates to co-ordinate agricultural research and development programmes and develop linkages at national and international level with related organisations to enhance the quality of life of the farming community.
ICAR has established various research centres in order to meet the agricultural research and education needs of the country. It is actively pursuing human resource development in the field of agricultural sciences by setting up numerous agricultural universities spanning the entire country. The Technology Intervention Programmes also form an integral part of ICAR's agenda which establishes Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) responsible for training, research and demonstration of improved technologies. The Central Research Institutes have been established to meet agricultural research and education needs of the country in terms of pursuit of basic and strategic research in the concerned disciplines in a focused area. They develop, evaluate and refine technologies for packaging them in a form ready to be transferred from Lab to Land.They also help in human resource development for agricultural sector. The Institutes/Directorates/Bureaux have a mandate for working on single or selected group of crops, animals or commodities with each major discipline having status of the division/section. Some of the Institutes have regional stations to cover diverse agro-ecological areas for developing area-specific technologies. The National Research Centres (NRCs) have been established for concentrated attention with a mission approach by a team of scientists under a single leader on selected topics with relevance to resolving national problems in a particular animal, crop or commodity. There is no divisional set up and rarely any regional station for the NRCs. The creation of All India Co-ordinated Research Project (AICRP) under the ICAR system is a landmark in the history of agricultural research in India. The AICRP is a mechanism in building nation-wide co-operative, inter-disciplinary research network linking ICAR Institutes with the SAUs to focus attention on commodities and species of national importance.
The AICRPs have succeeded in mobilizing country's scarce resources through inter-institutional and inter-disciplinary interaction and joint evaluation of new technologies to arrive at collective recommendation. The AICRPs also strengthen research base in each agricultural university. A few projects are elevated to the level of Project Directorates with additional research responsibilities for important areas e.g. wheat, rice, oilseed, pulses and vegetables. In addition, the ICAR supports a number of short-term ad-hoc research schemes, implemented by scientists in various colleges, universities and institutes. The programmes of ad-hoc research schemes are need-based and are formulated and executed in accordance with the recommendations of the scientific panels related to different disciplines. A total of 29 agricultural universities have been established in the different parts of the country, including a Central Agricultural University for the north-eastern hills. In addition the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, the Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar (Bareilly), the National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal and the Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Bombay have the status of deemed universities. The agricultural education system in the country offers degree programmes in 11 specific disciplines viz.agriculture, veterinary science, agricultural engineering, forestry, home science, dairy technology, fisheries, sericulture, marketing, banking and co-operation, horticulture and food science with a total intake of about 11,000 students. It also offers post graduate programmes in more than 55 fields of specialization with a total intake capacity of about 5,000 students. Under the human resource development programme the council offers about 1200 scholarships and fellowships from the undergraduate to post-doctoral levels. Special fellowships are also offered for socially and economically weaker groups. A World Bank assisted project on the Agricultural Human Resource Development (AHRD) has been launched to improve the educational system in agriculture and meet its future challenges. In its initial stage the participating states are Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and Tamil Nadu involving the agricultural universities of these states. During the 5 years of the project period steps will be taken for establishment of accreditation board, syllabus reform, faculty quality improvement, upgrading and modernization of the laboratory facilities, farms, libraries, hostels, communication systems and other ancillary facilities. A National Agricultural Technology Project (NATP) is also contemplated to bridge critical gaps of technology generation, assessment, refinement and transfer and to enhance ICAR's institutional capability to meet future challenges on research and development fronts. State Agricultural Universities The report of the Indian University Education Commission of 1948-49 frequently referred to as Radhakrishnan Commission Report recommended establishment of rural universities. The Education Commission Report of 1964-65 recommended the establishment of one Agricultural University in each state.
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