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The 97th Annual General Meeting of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Society was held at the National Agricultural Science Complex (NASC), New Delhi, chaired by Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare and Rural Development — who chairs it because the Agriculture Minister is ex-officio President of the ICAR Society.
The Minister called for a demand-driven research ecosystem aligned to farmers' needs, market demand and consumer requirements, with measurable benefits reaching farmers, and pressed for stronger ICAR-industry partnerships to move technologies from laboratory to field faster.
Dr M.L. Jat, Secretary, DARE and Director General, ICAR, reported the year's results: foodgrain production up by around 19 million tonnes, 386 new crop varieties released of which 94 percent are climate-resilient and 29 biofortified, and the indigenous African Swine Fever vaccine as the year's standout scientific breakthrough.
On the translation side, around 805 intellectual property applications were filed during the year, technology commercialisation was strengthened across 36 institutions, and the National Gender Platform for Agri-Food Systems now connects over 9,000 establishments.
The meeting adopted the ICAR Annual Report 2025-26, the Annual Accounts and Auditor's Report for 2024-25, and amendments to the Rules and Bye-laws of the ICAR Society; four ICAR publications were released.
The apex body coordinating, guiding and managing research and education in agriculture, including natural resource management, crop science, horticultural science, animal science and fisheries science. Established on 16 July 1929 as the Imperial Council of Agricultural Research, it is a registered society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and an autonomous organisation under DARE. It was reorganised in 1965 and again in 1973.
Created in the Ministry of Agriculture in December 1973 to coordinate and promote agricultural research and education, and to provide the government linkage for ICAR. The Director General of ICAR serves concurrently as Secretary, DARE — the device that connects an autonomous society to the Union government.
The ICAR institute that developed India's first indigenous African Swine Fever vaccine — an MA-104 cell-line-based live attenuated vaccine using an attenuated ASFV Genotype II virus with gene deletions, designed for large-scale production. It was dedicated to the nation at ICAR's 98th Foundation Day at NASC, New Delhi on 16 July 2026.
ICAR's farm science centres — the last-mile extension arm that carries technology, on-farm testing and training to farmers. The first KVK was set up on a pilot basis in 1974 at Puducherry, under the administrative control of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore; around 731 exist today.
The Pusa campus complex in New Delhi that hosts ICAR's major national events — this AGM, and ICAR's 98th Foundation Day on 16 July 2026 where the ASF vaccine was released.
An integrated farming system combines crops with one or more allied enterprises — livestock, dairy, poultry, fisheries, horticulture, beekeeping, agroforestry — on the same holding, so that the waste or by-product of one becomes an input for another. Crop residue feeds animals, animal dung returns to the soil or to a biogas unit, pond water irrigates and pond silt fertilises. Two things follow, and both are the reason the AGM singled the approach out for small and marginal farmers. First, income stops depending on a single crop and a single harvest, so a failed monsoon or a price crash in one commodity no longer wipes out the year. Second, purchased inputs fall because nutrients cycle within the farm rather than being bought in. It is the standard policy answer to the structural problem that a smallholding is too small to generate a living income from field crops alone, and it sits alongside the AGM's other stated priorities — quality seed and planting material, balanced fertiliser use and soil health.
Simple Analogy: It is the difference between a farm that sells one product and a farm that runs several small businesses under one roof, each feeding the next its leftovers.
To carry agricultural technology from research institutions to the farmer's field through on-farm testing, frontline demonstrations and training.
Key: First KVK established in 1974 at Puducherry under Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore; the network stands at around 731 KVKs as of May 2025. Both Ministers of State at the AGM identified ICAR and KVKs as the route by which science reaches farmers.
To strengthen women's participation across agriculture and the wider agri-food system.
Key: Reported at the AGM as connecting more than 9,000 establishments.
To address nutritional deficiency through the crop itself rather than through supplementation, by breeding varieties richer in iron, zinc, protein or vitamin A.
Key: Of the 386 new crop varieties released in the year reported to the AGM, 29 were biofortified and 94 percent were climate-resilient.
To convert public agricultural research into products that reach farmers through the market, rather than leaving it in institutional reports.
Key: Around 805 intellectual property applications were filed during the year and commercialisation was strengthened across 36 institutions; the Agriculture Minister used the AGM to press for stronger ICAR-industry partnerships for faster technology transfer.
ICAR is registered as a society under this Act, which is why it is an autonomous body governed by a Society and its Rules and Bye-laws rather than a statutory authority created by legislation. It also explains why amending those Rules and Bye-laws is business for the Annual General Meeting, as it was at this meeting.
DARE, created in the Ministry of Agriculture in December 1973, is the administrative department through which ICAR relates to the Union government. The Director General of ICAR is ex-officio Secretary of DARE, and the Union Agriculture Minister is ex-officio President of the ICAR Society.
Royal Commission on Agriculture in India appointed under the chairmanship of Lord Linlithgow.
The Commission submits its report, recommending a central council to promote and coordinate agricultural research.
Imperial Council of Agricultural Research established, registered as a society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
First major reorganisation of the Council.
Second reorganisation; in December the Department of Agricultural Research and Education is created in the Ministry of Agriculture.
First Krishi Vigyan Kendra set up on a pilot basis at Puducherry under Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore.
African Swine Fever detected in India for the first time, later spreading across several states and union territories.
At ICAR's 98th Foundation Day at NASC, New Delhi, India's first indigenous African Swine Fever vaccine, developed by ICAR-NIHSAD Bhopal, is dedicated to the nation.
97th Annual General Meeting of the ICAR Society held at NASC, New Delhi.
ASF was first detected in India in 2020 and hit pig-rearing households hardest in the North East. In Mizoram, outbreaks affected more than 11,382 households up to 2025 with an estimated loss of around Rs 982 crore — which is why an indigenous vaccine from ICAR-NIHSAD, Bhopal counts as a livelihood intervention and not only a scientific one.
That 94 percent of the 386 varieties released in the year are climate-resilient is a direct measure of how far breeding priorities have shifted from yield alone to yield under stress — the same logic behind the AGM's emphasis on soil health, balanced fertiliser use and sustainable practice.
ICAR shares its institutional form with other research councils that are registered societies rather than statutory bodies. The distinction — society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 versus a statutory or constitutional body — is a standing UPSC favourite.
Agriculture is a State subject, and the presence of agriculture ministers from a dozen states at the AGM is the practical face of that constitutional division: the Centre funds and coordinates research, while delivery runs through state departments and state agricultural universities.
GS Paper 3 > Agriculture > Agricultural research, extension and institutions; Science and Technology > Indigenous development
General Awareness > Indian institutions and organisations
General Awareness > National institutions
General Awareness > Agriculture and rural economy
ICAR appears regularly in Prelims through its institutions, its history and its varietal or vaccine breakthroughs; annual events like the AGM and Foundation Day are the usual trigger, and the static facts behind them repeat across years.
The apex body for coordinating agricultural research and education in India, established 16 July 1929 as the Imperial Council of Agricultural Research, registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, headquartered at Krishi Bhavan, New Delhi.
Created in the Ministry of Agriculture in December 1973 as ICAR's administrative department; ICAR's Director General is its ex-officio Secretary.
ICAR's district-level farm science centre for on-farm testing, demonstration and farmer training; the first was set up at Puducherry in 1974.
A crop variety bred to carry higher levels of a nutrient such as iron, zinc, protein or vitamin A, addressing deficiency through the food itself; 29 such varieties were among the 386 released in the year reported to the AGM.
A farm design combining crops with allied enterprises such as livestock, fisheries or horticulture so that by-products of one become inputs for another, diversifying income and cutting purchased inputs.