The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is an autonomous body responsible for co-ordinating agricultural education and research in India. It reports to the Department of Agricultural Research and Education, Ministry of Agriculture. The Union Minister of Agriculture serves as its president. It is the largest network of agricultural research and education institutes in the world.

The Committee to Advise on Renovation and Rejuvenation of Higher Education (Yashpal Committee, 2009) has recommended setting up of a constitutional body — the National Commission for Higher Education and Research — which would be a unified supreme body to regulate all branches of higher education including agricultural education. Presently, regulation of agricultural education is the mandate of ICAR, Veterinary Council of India (Veterinary sub-discipline) and Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (Forestry sub-discipline). The UPA government has included Yashpal Committee recommendations in its ‘100 days agenda’. premier institute of agriculture in India

Performance of ICAR :-

• ICARscientists were the first in the world to sequence the pigeon pea genome. it was a purely indigenous effort by 31 scientists led by Nagendra Kumar Singh of NRCPB. The first draft of the sequence was published in  Plant Biochem. Biotechnol
• As of July, 2006 it has developed a vaccineagainst bird flu.The vaccine was developed at the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory, Bhopal, the only facility in the country to conduct tests for the H5N1 variant of bird flu. It was entrusted with the task of developing a vaccine by the ICAR after the Avian Influenza outbreak in February
• It contributed during the most challenging years of food scarcity. 
• Conducted Survey of accidents in Indian agriculture :- To develop safer equipment and to pursue measures for minimizing accidents in agriculture, realistic data on these accidents are essential. Therefore, an agricultural accident survey was carried out during 2004-07 in collaboration with Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute, New Delhi. The data collected in this survey are being used to formulate accident minimization programmes in these states.
• Development/ evaluation of safety gadgets for farm machines/ activities The following safety gadgets were developed/ evaluated to minimize   accidents in agricultural activities.
• Safety gadgets for chaff cutters and sugarcane crushers
• Safety cover for pedal operated paddy thresher
• Belt and chain type conveyor feeding system for high capacity thresher
• A tractor trailer with brakes and other safety features

Critical evaluation :-

• Far from being an autonomous body, ICAR has become an extension of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
• ICAR has historically evolved with a strong bias in favour of crop sciences at the cost of animal husbandry. Research that focuses on agriculture productivity without an alignment to its socio-economic consequences and farmer prosperity is passé.
• Yields for irrigated crops like rice and wheat are comparable with the best in the world, but research on rain-fed farms, pulses, oilseeds, fruits and vegetables lags considerably.
• Evolving consumer preferences, changing the narrative from farm to food, environmental impact, climate resilient agriculture require a reorientation of priorities and mindsets.
• The capacities for market intelligence and forecasting models have not been cultivated.
• The deterioration in agriculture education is deplorable. Some state agriculture universities (SAU) are even conducting courses in fashion design.
• More appalling are the over 1,000 unregulated private agriculture colleges which have sprouted across the nation.
• Many are without proper labs, infrastructure or farm land. As agriculture is a state subject ICAR/Central government jurisdiction doesn’t apply to these proliferating private profiteers. They thrive because states haven’t enacted a regulatory framework. 
• Of the three activities of ICAR, technology transfer or farm extension is shared with the states and is the biggest disappointment of all. Since India became a cereal secure nation, complacency set in and public extension collapsed. 
• Around 700 Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVK) funded by the ICAR are designated for capacity building and technology refinement and transfer but are neither fully staffed nor equipped.
• Convergence between ICAR and state agriculture agencies has failed.
• ICAR cannot escape its share of culpability — recruitments are manipulated, inbreeding and nepotism are rampant. Salary structures based on government promotion rules of time-bound promotion do not recognise research output and talent is ignored. Most farmhands are women, but women are not even recruited in equal numbers. 
• Worse still, research is routinely stolen from ICAR institutes by private companies. Thus, IPR registrations and internal resource generation like that in the developed world universities is improbable.

Measures needed :-

• It should be transformed into a truly autonomous body reporting directly to the prime minister like the Atomic Energy Commission. Its functions should be restricted to farm research, education and oversight of non-ICAR agriculture institutes. Farm extension services should be completely delegated to the state governments.
• The Punjab government has notified a regulatory act; other states must follow.
• If the PMO accepted the responsibility of agriculture research and education, SAU salaries would fall into the Central government basket and the KVKs could be transferred to the states. That would free up resources for states to focus exclusively on farm extension.
• The budget allocations for agriculture R&D must be pegged as 2 per cent of the GDP from the less than 1 per cent at present. But, most importantly, a metric to audit outcomes and establish accountability is needed to resolve the crisis.