Online Process for Entrance Examination for Agriculture and Allied Subjects by ICAR to be completed by 31st March 2020

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has initiated the process for inviting of applications for admission to Bachelor’s, Masters and Doctoral degree programmes in the Agricultural Universities (AUs) accredited by it. ICAR conducts All India Entrance Examinations (AIEEs) for admission to 15 per cent seats of UG degree programmes and 25 per cent seats each of Master’s and Doctoral degree programmes at ICAR accredited AUs under the ICAR-AU system. At present, there are 74 AUs comprising 63 State Agricultural Universities; 3 Central Agricultural Universities: CAU, Imphal, RLBCAU, Jhansi and Dr RPCAU, Pusa, Bihar; 4 ICAR-Deemed-to-be Universities: IARI, New Delhi, IVRI, Bareilly, NDRI, Karnal, CIFE, Mumbai and 4 Central Universities with Agriculture Faculty: BHU, Varanasi, AMU, Aligarh, PSB, Visva Bharati, Sriniketan, West Bengal, SASRD, Medziphema, Nagaland under this system.

Dr R .C. Agrawal, Deputy Director General (Agriculture Education), ICAR informed the Krishi Jagran in an interaction meet today. The interested may like to visit https://www.facebook.com/krishi.jagran/videos/2514331652115055 for details.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) shall conduct the ICAR’s AIEEs on June 1, 2020. The online applications can be filed by the candidates from March 1 to March 31 (up to 5 p.m.) at NTA’s official site https://icar.nta.nic.in. The payment of application fee can be done using credit/debit card/net banking/UPI up to 11:50 p.m. on March 31. The admit cards can be downloaded8 May onwards by the candidates. The results of the examinations will be declared by NTA on June 15.

The candidates having passed with 10+2 Senior Secondary or equivalent examination of a recognized Indian Board/university can apply for appearing in the examination for admission to an undergraduate degree programme. Admission through this examination will be made to B.Sc. (Hons) degree programmes in Agriculture, Horticulture, Fisheries, Forestry, Community Science, Food Nutrition and Dietetics, Sericulture including B.  Tech degree programmes in Agricultural Engineering, Dairy Technology, Food Technology and Biotechnology. The computer-based test would have 150 multiple-choice questions with 60 marks. Based upon the subjects studied in 10+2 examination, the candidates can opt any three subjects, either PCB/PCM/PCA/ABC (Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Agriculture) for appearing in the examination. On the basis of their merit rank, the candidates will be able to get admission to the University of their Choice through online counseling to be conducted by ICAR after the examination. The undergraduate students, based upon prescribed criteria, shall be eligible to receive a National Talent Scholarship (NTS) of Rs. 3,000 per month.

For admission to Masters and Doctoral degree programmes through this examination, the ICAR shall award 600 ICAR-PG Scholarships and 300 JRF/SRF, respectively. Those candidates who are not able to secure ICAR-PG Scholarship, based upon prescribed criteria, shall be eligible to receive NTS (PG) amounting to Rs. 5,000 per month. While the amount of ICAR PG scholarship is Rs. 12,640 per month, JRF/SRF is awarded @ Rs. 31, 000 for the first two years of study (JRF) and Rs. 35,000 for the final year of study (SRF).

For admission to Masters and Doctoral degree programmes through this examination, the ICAR shall award 600 ICAR-PG Scholarships and 300 JRF/SRF, respectively. Those candidates who are not able to secure ICAR-PG Scholarship, based upon prescribed criteria, shall be eligible to receive NTS (PG) amounting to Rs. 5,000 per month. While the amount of ICAR PG scholarship is Rs. 12,640 per month, JRF/SRF is awarded @ Rs. 31, 000 for the first two years of study (JRF) and Rs. 35,000 for the final year of study (SRF).

There are tremendous opportunities for employment of graduates in agriculture and allied disciplines in public and private sectors in the country as well as abroad. The ICAR is focusing on imparting inclusive and equitable quality education to nurture graduates and postgraduates who are job providers rather than being the job seekers.