From the Imperial Council to ICAR: the apex body that runs agricultural research and education

Background

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is an autonomous organisation under the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India. It was formerly known as the Imperial Council of Agricultural Research and was established on 16 July 1929 as a registered society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, in pursuance of the report of the Royal Commission on Agriculture. ICAR has its headquarters at New Delhi. The Council is the apex body for co-ordinating, guiding and managing research and education in agriculture including horticulture, fisheries and animal sciences in the entire country. With 113 ICAR institutes and 74 agricultural universities spread across the country, ICAR describes itself as one of the largest national agricultural systems in the world, and credits its research and technology development with a pioneering role in the Green Revolution.