Lok Sabha Question No. 2400 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-08-03
Subject: Regulation and Facilitiation of Agricultural Education and Research
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Vishnu Dutt Sharma, Arvind Kumar Sharma

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH & EDUCATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2400

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 3 rd  August, 2021

## REGULATION AND FACILITIATION OF AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION AND RESEARCH

2400.   SHRI VISHNU DATT SHARMA: DR. ARVIND KUMAR SHARMA:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ षि और ककसान कल्याण मंत्री be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government is considering setting up an Agricultural Education Council of India or a similar body to oversee, regulate and facilitate agricultural education and research in the country, if so, details the thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;

(b) the  institutional  arrangement  which  is  in  place  at  present  to  oversee,  regulate  and facilitate agricultural education and research in the country;

(c) whether this institutional arrangement is efficient, empowered and capable enough to discharge the mandate which has been given to it; and

(d) if so, the details thereof and if not, the alternate arrangement being considered by the Government to address this concern?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF AGRICUTLRURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ षि और ककसान कल्याण मंत्री ( SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR )

(a) No, Sir.  As  Per  New  Education Policy 2020, the professional councils, such as the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Veterinary Council of India (VCI), National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), Council of Architecture (CoA), National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET) etc., will act as Professional Standard Setting Bodies (PSSBs). They will play a key role in the higher education system and will be invited to be members of the General Education Council (GEC). These bodies, after restructuring as PSSBs, will  continue  to  draw  the  curricula,  lay  down  academic  standards  and  coordinate between  teaching,  research  and  extension  of  their  domain/discipline,  as  members  of  the GEC.  As  members  of  the  GEC,  they  would  help  in  specifying  the  curriculum  framework, within  which Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) may prepare their own curricula. Thus, PSSBs  would  also  set  the  standards  or  expectations  in  particular  fields  of  learning  and practice  while  having  no  regulatory  role.  All  HEIs  will  decide  how  their  educational programmes respond to these standards, among other considerations, and would also be able to reach out for support from these standard-setting bodies or PSSBs, if needed.  In this context ICAR would continue to oversee, regulate and facilitate agricultural education and research in the country.

O.I.H.

(b) The  Indian  Council  of  Agricultural  Research  (ICAR)  which  is  functioning  under Department  of  Agricultural  Research  and  Education  (DARE)  is  the  apex  body  for  coordinating, guiding and managing research and education in agriculture including horticulture, fisheries and animal sciences in the entire country with 102 ICAR institutes, 60 All  India  Coordinated  Research  Projects  (AICRPs),  19  All  India  Network  Projects  (AINPs) and  74  Agricultural  Universities  (AUs)  system  including  63  State  Agricultural  Universities (SAUs), 03 Central Agricultural Universities (CAUs), 04 Deemed  to be Universities and 04 Central Universities with Agriculture Faculty spread across the country. This is one of the largest National Agricultural Research And Education Systems (NARES) in the world. The ICAR  has  played  a  pioneering role in  ushering  Green  Revolution  and  subsequent developments in agriculture in India through its research and technology development that has enabled the country to increase the production of foodgrains by 5.6 times, horticultural crops by 10.5 times, fish by 16.8 times, milk by 10.4 times and eggs by 52.9 times since 1950-51  to  2017-18,  thus  making  a  visible  impact  on  the  national  food  and  nutritional security. It has played a major role in promoting excellence in research and higher education in agriculture.

(c) Yes,  Sir.  Institutional  arrangement  entrusted  with  DARE  and  ICAR  is  efficient, empowered and capable enough to discharge the assigned mandate.

(d) ICAR  has  following  mandates  to  coordinate  agricultural  education  and  research activities  taking  place  in  National  Agriculture  Research  and  Education  System  (NARES)  in the country:

- Plan, Undertake, Coordinate and Promote Research and Technology Development for Sustainable Agriculture.
- Aid, Impart and Coordinate Agricultural Education to enable Quality Human Resource Development.
- Frontline Extension for technology application, adoption, knowledge management and capacity development for agri-based rural development.
- Policy, Cooperation and Consultancy in Agricultural Research, Education & Extension.

As per the research mandate, the ICAR research institutes have taken up basic and strategic research programmes related to crop science, horticulture science, animal science, fisheries science, natural resources management, agricultural engineering, allied areas etc. crop/fruit improvement and development of production and protection technologies to form a base  for  applied  research.  The  information  so  developed  is  used  by  respective  All  India Coordinated  Research  Projects  (AICRPs)  and  All  India  Network  Projects  (AINPs)  being carried out in ICAR Institutes and State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) to develop location specific  varieties  and  technologies  as  per  the  agro  ecological  needs  for  enhancing  the production  and  productivity.  Moreover,  various  novel  and  cutting  edge  science-based research programmes  are  being pursued besides up-scaling the already developed technologies for maximizing the returns in agriculture for overall development of the country. The research programmes are being prioritized to develop new high yielding pest resistant varieties of food crops, pulses, fodder and commercial crop varieties.

ICAR  is  involved  in strengthening  and  streamlining  of  higher  agricultural  education system to enhance the quality of human resources through strengthening and development of higher agricultural education in India, human resources development for leadership roles in

agricultural sciences, improving quality of agricultural education through innovative approaches in teaching, research, outreach activities etc.

To achieve the above objectives of education, the following arrangements are in place:

## Deans' Committees:

In  the  frequent  changing  scenario  and  current  demands  of  Higher  Agricultural education system of the country, periodic exercise has been conducted by ICAR to address the issues on agricultural education including revision of courses and curricula in Agriculture and  allied  sciences.  In  pursuance  of  this  goal,  ICAR  from  time  to  time  constitutes  Deans' Committee consisting of Senior faculty members representing diverse disciplines. Till date six Deans' Committees have been constituted namely: First Deans' Committee (1965); Second Deans Committee (1981); Third Deans Committee (1995); Fourth Deans Committee (2005); Fifth  Deans'  Committee  (2013)  and  sixth  Deans  Committee  (2021)  with  mandate  to restructure  UG  programmes  of  Agricultural  Universities  incorporating  entrepreneurship  for students.

## Broad Subject Matter Area (BSMA) Committees:

Academic  regulations  for  Masters  and  Ph.D.  programmes,  defining  names  and curricula of various disciplines for uniformity and revision of syllabi for courses available with Agriculture Universities (AU's) are undertaken by ICAR through BSMA Committees. During 2020-21 BSMA Committee has submitted report for revising the syllabus of 79 disciplines.

## National Agricultural Education Accreditation Board (NAEAB):

Accreditation is done by ICAR to ensure the quality of higher agricultural education in Agricultural  Universities  and  its  constituent  colleges.  The  University/  institution/programme are critically  evaluated by a group of experts as per approved guidelines of the Council to achieve the following:

- i. Assisting people, prospective students, educational institutions, professional societies, Government and other concerned agencies in identifying institutions and programmes which meet the minimum norms and standards as prescribed by the Council,
- ii. Providing guidance for the improvement of existing agricultural education institutions/ programmes, and
- iii. Developing new institutions/ programmes.

Accreditation  of  Agricultural  Universities  is  a  continuous  process,  and  since  the constitution of the Board in 1996, Forty three AUs have been accredited. In order to infuse better accountability and intense monitoring for educational quality improvement in agricultural universities, the Government of India has taken a decision to link accreditation of agricultural universities by NAEAB with the Grant-in- Aid from ICAR, New Delhi.

**********