Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)

Nearly every new crop variety grown in India traces back to one body. This article covers ICAR, the institution that turned agricultural research into a national system.

One Body, a Century of Research

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1928

Royal Commission

Recommends a central body for agricultural research

16 JULY 1929

ICAR Founded

Registered as the Imperial Council of Agricultural Research

POST-1947

Renamed

Becomes the Indian Council of Agricultural Research

113 + 74

Today’s Network

Institutes and agricultural universities nationwide

The through-line: a colonial-era recommendation became independent India’s entire agricultural research backbone.

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Timeline

• The Royal Commission on Agriculture (1928) recommended setting up a central body to organise agricultural research across India.
• 16 July 1929: The council was registered as the Imperial Council of Agricultural Research, under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
• After independence, it was renamed the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
• Today, ICAR coordinates a network of 113 institutes and 74 agricultural universities across the country.

Must Know

• ICAR is the apex body for coordinating, guiding and managing agricultural research and education in India.
• It covers agriculture, horticulture, fisheries, and animal sciences, not just crop research alone.
• ICAR is an autonomous organisation, registered as a society, functioning under the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE).
• DARE itself sits within the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
• Its headquarters is at Krishi Bhavan, New Delhi.

Good to Know

• ICAR’s university network includes State Agricultural Universities, Central Agricultural Universities, ICAR Deemed Universities, and Central Universities with agricultural faculties.
• Its institutes carry out research on individual crops, soils, livestock, and fisheries, alongside broader policy and extension work.
• ICAR-bred crop varieties and farming techniques were central to the Green Revolution’s rise in foodgrain output from the 1960s onward. M.S. Swaminathan, the Green Revolution’s key figure, served as ICAR’s Director-General from 1972 to 1980.

Test Yourself

Please wait…

1. On what date was the Imperial Council of Agricultural Research, now ICAR, first registered as a society?

16 July 1929

26 January 1930

15 August 1947

1 April 1935

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Great to Know

• A colonial-era commission’s recommendation survived intact into independent India. It was only renamed, never rebuilt. This shows how institutional structures can outlast the political systems that created them.
• Housing crop research, livestock science, and fisheries under one coordinating body reflects a belief that farm output depends on many interconnected systems, not crops alone.
• ICAR’s dual role, running its own institutes while also overseeing university-based agricultural education, links research directly to the training of the next generation of scientists.
• A research network this large, spanning nearly every state, needed decades of steady expansion. It didn’t emerge from a single reform, but from continuous institution-building since 1929.

Current Affairs

• On 16 July 2026, ICAR marked its 98th Foundation Day. Over the past year, it released 386 improved varieties across 44 crops — 94% climate-resilient, and 29 biofortified. (Source: PIB)
• Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan set seven goals for ICAR, including 100 Climate Smart Villages, reaching 100 million farmers with ICAR technology, and raising ₹10,000 crore in internal resources by 2029. (Source: PIB)
• ICAR’s research added an estimated ₹1.70 lakh crore in economic value this year. Agricultural research itself contributed about ₹55,000 crore of that, reaching nearly 1 crore farmers directly. (Source: PIB)
• Separately, the National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA), a different body under the Department of Land Resources, held a workshop in Jaipur on satellite- and drone-based watershed surveys. It falls under the World Bank-backed REWARD programme. (Source: PIB)
• On 15 July 2026, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan addressed ICAR’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Conclave 2026, at the NASC Complex, New Delhi. (Source: PIB)
• He urged companies to direct CSR funds toward agricultural research, climate-resilient farming, soil health, and women farmers’ entrepreneurship. Indian law already requires companies to spend 2% of profits on CSR. (Source: PIB)
• He linked this push to the Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan campaign, which aims to carry ICAR’s research directly from labs to farmers’ fields. (Source: PIB)
• Ministers of State Ramnath Thakur and Bhagirath Choudhary also attended the conclave. (Source: PIB)
• The conclave, co-organised with Agrinnovate India Limited, drew about 150 representatives from 75 industries, plus 570 online participants. Corporate partners, including SBI Foundation, ICICI Foundation, and Yes Bank, committed to CSR partnerships with ICAR. (Source: PIB)