ICAR Katseye food
If we take a survey of high school students who have just graduated and ask them, ‘ Which course/entrance exam are you going to appear for university admissions?’ Most will say medical/non-medical, Finance, etc., but very few or rarely will someone say ICAR AIEEA. Why?
ICAR, which stands for the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, is the main body behind agricultural education and research efforts in India. And AIEEA is the All India Entrance Examination for admission to undergraduate and postgraduate programs in agricultural science in ICAR-recognised universities. ICAR, established on 16 July 1929, previously called the Imperial Council of Agricultural Research, is a prestigious organization under which many institutions like IARI come.
IARI is one of its many institutions and holds the highest NIRF ranking among all, situated in New Delhi. Institutes like IARI and the first agricultural university in India ‘G.B Pant University of Agriculture and Technology’ in Pantnagar UP, played an important role in the green revolution of the 1970s, developing and improving crop yields, disease-resistant varieties, genome editing, etc. making it clear how impressive and reputable this field is.
Still, keeping these points in mind, the question remains: Why? Why are these prestigious institutes so little known and generally not the first choice of students after graduating from school when preparing for university?
Well, the answer is in the societal view and perception. It is often viewed as being all about traditional farming, less glamorous than Engineering or medical fields, and often seen as just a secondary career path. Here, most students opt for CLAT, JEE, and NEET exams since agricultural course exams are not very mainstream in entrance exam coaching due to the dominance of other fields. Generally, students get to know about this course through YouTube videos made by educators with titles like ‘other hidden exams you should give apart from JEE/NEET’. They present it in such a way that it reinforces the idea: if you can’t get into other universities, then go for these agriculture exams as a backup, making them indirectly a fallback career.
Instead, they should make videos giving equal importance to these fields, without including them as an ‘if not’ option. This would create a sense of respect in students for these courses. ICAR AIEEA has the same syllabus too like other entrance exams, and starting from the academic year 2023-24, AIEEA was integrated with CUET (Common University Entrance Test). This initiative to integrate various exams into a single exam was meant to reduce the burden on students appearing for multiple exams and to make it much more convenient for agricultural courses to come into the view of students to streamline the admission process and give students a clearer view of options that won’t be overshadowed by so many other courses.
So now, in school-level career counseling, they include this course information with proper consideration. This way, students will give these courses a chance and help remove all the stereotypical views about agricultural studies being just about farming. That traditional farming we have seen in our villages, and if a bunch of people are asked what comes to their mind when they hear ‘agricultural studies’, chances are they will think of farming land first, not the scientific innovation associated with agricultural studies. Which, obviously, isn’t any less significant—but after getting into these institutes, students go beyond traditional farming and learn about the scientific and technological aspects of agriculture, working on improving food security, developing new innovations, studying chemicals and technologies, and understanding agriculture’s contribution to the country’s GDP. With such prestigious institutes in India, it should be a matter of pride for students when they get admission into ICAR institutions.
Great minds aren’t bound to only certain courses, they can bloom and create innovative ideas in any field they choose. ICAR provides valuable resources and opportunities for those students who aspire to develop the agriculture sector in more innovative directions. There are many institutes like IARI under ICAR that need to be popularised and introduced more widely to students because these are some of India’s ‘lesser-known yet prestigious institutes’.
In a country like India, where agriculture sustains nearly half the population, and India being the second biggest food producer in terms of calorie content, with a large agricultural workforce, it’s surprising how unaware people are about advanced science and innovation in this field.
From a broader perspective, these institutions don’t just nurture the future of farming, they also fuel research that is going to impact biotechnology, food security, and climate resilience.
Since agriculture and climate change are so closely related, with agriculture contributing to greenhouse gas emissions through fertilizers and deforestation, and with climate change impacting agriculture too, through lower crop yields, changes in rainfall patterns, extreme weather events, and heat stress, it’s clear that the significance of these courses is more important than ever.
Even though the narrative around this field exists in other countries too like the USA, where it’s also not widely seen as a glamourous career and often associated with rural areas-it is still not perceived as a less desirable option there. In fact, the U.S. treats agriculture as a pretty significant sector, which is reflected in its position as a global leader in agricultural technology and innovation, known for its efficiency in food production.
So, there’s more to agricultural studies than just tilling land. Prestigious agricultural organizations in India like ICAR, despite their excellence, remain a little underrated in mainstream academic choices.
We need to adopt more climate-smart agriculture and sustainable farming. Investing in research and development of climate-resistant crop varieties is very important to ensure food security. Valuing these fields is crucial so that young minds can explore them and help upcoming generations rise through these lesser-known yet prestigious institutes, letting agriculture grow like never before.
By: ANJALI KUMARI
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