ICAR revises UG counselling 2025 brochure to add ABC stream for BSc Agriculture admissions

Weeks after protests from students, several MLAs, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has revised the ICAR UG counselling brochure 2025 to add the Agriculture-Biology-Chemistry (ABC) stream as a valid subject combination for admission to BSc Agriculture and allied subjects.

The registration for the ICAR UG counselling 2025 began in the first week of September after a prolonged delay caused by a lag in receiving data from the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the entrance exam. Additionally, the council also received requests for extension of the process from several state and deemed universities.

Why did the students protest?

The first brochure did not mention the ABC subject combination as valid eligibility, sparking criticism from students, especially from states like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh, where physics is not part of the agriculture stream in higher secondary level.

Nearly, 10,000 Inter-Agriculture students are there from Rajasthan alone.

Students, and several political leaders, including Rashtriya Loktantrik Party president Hanuman Beniwal and MLA Ramniwas Gawriya wrote letters addressed to the Rajasthan chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, calling the move to exclude inter-agriculture students and their subject combinations from brochure as “unjust”. They also condemned how the new brochure would impact thousands of students who pursued agriculture stream in Class 12.

Following the complaints, ICAR deputy director general JK Jena had requested all agricultural universities to include ABC subject combination for admission to BSc courses. ICAR director-general Mangi Lal Jat also convened a virtual meeting with vice-chancellors requesting them to make the necessary addition, following which some universities agreed to decide to review the norms, as per reports.

Students have welcomed the swift action by the council and said that this will benefit lakhs of students who opted for agriculture in higher secondary.

How will ICAR UG counselling be held?

ICAR UG counselling 2025 will be held in four rounds to fill more than 5,000 seats in 74 agricultural universities (AUs). The council does not allot college to the candidates. Instead, it allots a university, after which the allotment of a constituent college will be done by the respective university itself.

Against the total number of ICAR seats available for a particular degree programme in a university, not more than 40% of ICAR seats from one state would be allocated to any one university in that Subject/programme under a particular category.

Also read ICAR stipend hikes 21 months late; ‘financially distressed’ agriculture researchers seek legal recourse

ICAR UG Counselling: AUs accepting ABC eligibility

Over 20 agricultural universities have included ABC – Agriculture-Biology-Chemistry – as accepted subject combination for UG admissions. Some of the universities include:

• Acharya Narendra Deva University of Agriculture and Technology (ANDUAT), Kumarganj
• Agriculture University, Jodhpur
• Agriculture University, Kota (Borkhera)
• Anand Agricultural University (AAU), Anand
• Bidhan Chandra Krishi Vishwavidyalaya (BCKV), Mohanpur, Nadia
• Dr. Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth (DBSKKV), Dapoli
• Banda University of Agriculture and Technology (BUAT), Banda
• Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology (CSAUAT), Kanpur
• Narendra Deva University of Agriculture amd Technology, Ayodhya
• Rani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural University (RLBCAU), Jhansi
• Dr Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University (RPCAU), Pusa
• Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya (JNKVV), Jabalpur
• Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya (RVSKVV), Gwalior
• Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture & Technology (MPUAT), Udaipur
• Swami Keshwanand Rajasthan Agricultural University (SKRAU), Bikaner
• Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth (PDKV), Akola
• Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth (MPKV), Rahuri
• Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth (VNMKV), Parbhani.