ICAR makes agriculture mandatory subject for BSc admissions from 2025

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has directed agricultural universities to include agriculture as a mandatory eligibility subject for admission to BSc (Hons) agriculture and allied undergraduate courses. 

The decision follows student complaints about the ICAR-UG counselling brochure for 2025, which had excluded candidates from the Agriculture-Biology-Chemistry (ABC) stream from several programs.

Scope of the issue

The brochure had barred ABC stream students from BSc (Hons) agriculture in 27 universities, horticulture in 19, and forestry in 14.

While most students in Classes 11 and 12 pursue physics-chemistry-mathematics (PCM) or physics-chemistry-biology (PCB), a significant number across states such as Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra opt for the ABC stream with the aim of entering agriculture and allied sciences.

Counselling and available seats

ICAR is set to begin online counselling next week for 6,002 seats under its quota, spread across 74 agricultural universities and 13 undergraduate courses. BSc (Hons) Agriculture, offers the highest number of seats at 3,121, while BSc (Hons) Sericulture has the fewest at 22.

In a letter dated September 23, ICAR deputy director general (education) JK Jena noted that many universities were not giving proper consideration to students with agriculture or inter-agriculture in Class 12. He stressed the need to include these students in the eligibility criteria to ensure fairness and avoid legal complications.

The UG counselling process is expected to begin by Monday, with the payment gateway being integrated by the bank over the next 2–3 days.