Agricultural Education is the teaching of agriculture, natural resources, and land management through hands on experience and guidance to prepare students for entry level jobs or to further education to prepare them for advanced agricultural jobs.
The value of scientific methods of farming and training persons in agriculture was realised in India even as far back as 1870, when a few institutes were set up, to teach agriculture and veterinary sciences. By 1907, a few colleges became affiliated to Universities. The expansion of agricultural education at different levels posed many problems, which fell outside the sphere of the University Grants Commission, which was mainly concerned with academic standards at the University level. The absence of any department or agency at the Centre, responsible either for co-ordinating agricultural education in the country or assisting agricultural and veterinary colleges to equip themselves adequately for a high standard of teaching, was keenly felt. When agriculture was transferred to the administration of the Provincial Governments as a result of the Montague Chelmsford Reforms in 1921, the need for co-ordination of agricultural activities in the country became very acute and this led the Royal Commission in 1928 to recommend the establishment of the Indian (then Imperial) Council of Agricultural Research in 1929 for promoting, guiding and co-ordinating agricultural and animal husbandry research in the country. The I.C.A.R. has also served as an advisory body to the Government of India in matters relating to agriculture and animal husbandry. The education and development work in agriculture were also brought later within the scope of the activities of the Council.
In India, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi through its Agricultural Education Division is involved in strengthening and streamlining of higher agricultural education system to enhance the quality of human resources in agri-supply chain to meet future challenges in agriculture sector in the country. This calls for regular planning, development, coordination and quality assurance in higher agricultural education in India. The division strives for maintaining and upgrading quality and relevance of higher agricultural education through partnership and efforts of the ICAR-Agricultural Universities (AUs) system comprising of State Agricultural Universities, Deemed to be universities, Central Agricultural University and Central Universities with Agriculture Faculty.
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