The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is an autonomous body responsible for co-ordinating agricultural education and research in India. It reports to the Department of Agricultural Research and Education, Ministry of Agriculture. The Union Minister of Agriculture serves as its president. It is the largest network of agricultural research and education institutes in the world.
The Committee to Advise on Renovation and Rejuvenation of Higher Education (Yashpal Committee, 2009) has recommended setting up of a constitutional body -- the National Commission for Higher Education and Research -- which would be a unified supreme body to regulate all branches of higher education including agricultural education. Presently, regulation of agricultural education is the mandate of ICAR, Veterinary Council of India (Veterinary sub-discipline) and Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (Forestry sub-discipline). The UPA government has included Yashpal Committee recommendations in its '100 days agenda'. premier institute of agriculture in India
Milestones
As of July, 2006 it has developed a vaccine against bird flu. The vaccine was developed at the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory, Bhopal, the only facility in the country to conduct tests for the H5N1 variant of bird flu.It was entrusted with the task of developing a vaccine by the ICAR after the Avian Influenza outbreak in February. The ICAR was provided Rs. 8 crore for the purpose.
2009: In December 2009, it announced that it was considering a policy to provide open access to its research.
2010: In March 2010, ICAR made its two flagship journals (Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences and Indian Journal of Animal Sciences) as Open Access Journals.
2013: On 13 September 2013, it announced the Open Access Policy and committed for making all the public funded scholarly research outputs openly available via open access repositories.
ICAR scientists were the first in the world to sequence the pigeon pea genome. it was a purely indigenous effort by 31 scientists led by Nagendra Kumar Singh of NRCPB. The first draft of the sequence was published in J. Plant Biochem. Biotechnol.
ICAR institutions
As of October 2017, ICAR has following institutions:
6 Deemed Universities(2 new-NAARM, Hyderabad and NIASM, Melegaon, Maharashtra)
64 ICAR Institutions
15 National Research Centres
6 National Bureaux
25 Directorates/Project Directorates(upgraded NRCs-12)
Deemed Universities
Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi
Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh
National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, Haryana
Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Mumbai, Maharashtra
Institutes
Central Agroforestry Research Institute , Jhansi
Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur
Central Avian Research Institute, Izatnagar
Central Coastal Agricultural Research Institute, Ela, Old Goa, Goa
Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Barrackpore
Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture, Chennai
Central Institute for Arid Horticulture, Bikaner
Central Institute for Research on Buffaloes, Hissar
Central Institute for Research on Cattle, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh
Central Institute for Research on Goats, Makhdoom
Central Institute for Women in Agriculture, Bhubaneshwar
Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Bhopal
Central Institute of Cotton Research, Nagpur
Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, Cochin
Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture, Bhubneshwar
Central Institute of Research on Cotton Technology, Mumbai
Central Institute of Sub Tropical Horticulture, Lucknow
Central Institute of Temperate Horticulture, Srinagar
Central Institute on Post harvest Engineering and Technology, Ludhiana
Central Island Agricultural Research Institute , Port Blair
Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Kochi
Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, Kasargod
Central Potato Research Institute, Shimla
Central Research Institute for Jute and Allied Fibers, Barrackpore
Central Research Institute of Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad
Central Sheep and Wool Research Institute, Avikanagar, Rajasthan
Central Soil Salinity Research Institute, Karnal
Central Tobacco Research Institute, Rajahmundry
Central Tuber Crops Research Institute, Trivandrum
ICAR Research Complex for Eastern Region, Patna
ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Barapani
Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Jharkhand
Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute, New Delhi
Indian Grassland and Fevener Research Institute, Jhansi
Indian Institute of Agricultural Biotechnology, Ranchi
Indian Institute of Farming Systems Research, Modipuram
Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru
Indian Institute of Maize Research,New Delhi
Indian Institute of Millets Research, Hyderabad
Indian Institute of Natural Resins and Gums, Ranchi
Indian Institute of Oil Palm Research, Eluru
Indian Institute of Oilseeds Research, Hyderabad
Indian Institute of Pulses Research, Kanpur
Indian Institute of Rice Research, Hyderabad
Indian Institute of Seed Research, Mau
Indian Institute of Soil Sciences, Bhopal
Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Dehradun
Indian Institute of Spices Research, Calicut
Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research, Lucknow
Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi
Indian Institute of Water Management, Bhubaneshwar
Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research, Karnal
National Academy of Agricultural Research & Management, Hyderabad
National Institute of Abiotic Stress Management, Malegaon, Maharashtra
National Institute of Agricultural Economics and Policy Research, New Delhi
National Institute of Animal Nutrition and Physiology, Bengaluru
National Institute of Biotic Stresses Management, Raipur
National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases, Bhopal
National Institute of Research on Jute and Allied Fibre Technology, Kolkata
National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology and Disease Informatics, Hebbal, Bengaluru
National Rice Research Institute, Cuttack
Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore
Vivekananda Parvatiya Krishi Anusandhan Sansthan, Almora
National Research Centers
National Centre for Integrated Pest Management, New Delhi
National Research Centre for Banana, Trichi
National Research Centre for Citrus, Nagpur
National Research Centre for Grapes, Pune
National Research Centre on Litchi, Muzaffarpur
National Research Centre on Pomegranate, Solapur
National Research Centre on Camel, Bikaner
National Research Centre on Equines, Hisar
National Research Centre on Integrated Farming, Motihari
National Research Centre on Meat, Hyderabad
National Research Centre on Mithun, Medziphema, Nagaland
National Research Centre on Orchids, Pakyong, Sikkim
National Research Centre on Pig, Guwahati
National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology, New Delhi
National Research Centre on Seed Spices, Ajmer
National Research Centre on Yak, West Kemang
Bureaus
National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources, Bengaluru
National Bureau of Agriculturally Important Micro Organisms, Mau Nath Bhanjan, Uttar Pradesh
National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources, Karnal, Haryana
National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi
National Bureau of Soil Survey & Land Use Planning, Nagpur, Maharashtra
Directorates/Project Directorates
Directorate of Cashew Research, Puttur
Directorate of Cold Water Fisheries Research, Bhimtal, Nainital
Directorate of Floricultural Research, Pune, Maharashtra
Directorate of Groundnut Research, Junagarh
Directorate of Knowledge Management in Agriculture (DKMA), New Delhi
Directorate of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Research, Anand
Directorate of Mushroom Research, Solan
Directorate of Poultry Research, Hyderabad
Directorate of Rapeseed & Mustard Research, Bharatpur
Directorate of Soybean Research, Indore
Directorate of Weed Research, Jabalpur
Directorate on Onion and Garlic Research, Pune
Project Directorate on Foot & Mouth Disease, Mukteshwar
ICAR Headquarters
Indian Council of Agricultural Research's headquarters is in New Delhi.
Examination system
All India Entrance Exam for Agriculture (AIEEA) is an entrance exam for admission into the agricultural universities recognized by ICAR.
Agricultural Research Service
The Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board (ASRB) conducts all India competitive examination Agricultural Research Service (ARS), to recruit posts in the ARS of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
ICAR Merits & Awards
Choudhary Devi Lal Outstanding All-India Coordinated Research Project Award
Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Award
Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Award for Tribal Areas
Hari Om Ashram Trust Award
Jawaharlal Nehru Award for outstanding doctoral thesis research
Vasantrao Naik Award
Lal Bahadur Shastri Young Scientist Award
Bharat Ratna Dr C Subramaniam Outstanding Teacher Award
Punjab Rao Deshmukh Woman Agricultural Scientist Award
Chaudhary Charan Singh Award for Excellence in Journalism in Agricultural Research and Development
N.G. Ranga Farmer Award for Diversified Agriculture
Jagjivan Ram Kisan Puruskar
Swamy Sahajanand Saraswati Extension Scientist/ Worker Award
ICAR Award for Outstanding Multidisciplinary Team Research in Agriculture and Allied Sciences
National Krishi Vigyan Kendra Award
Dr Rajendra Prasad Puruskar for Technical Books in Hindi in The Field of Agriculture and Allied Sciences
Udyan Pandit Award for excellence in fruit growing