The IARI Alumni Association (IAA) and ICAR–Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, jointly organized a two-day National Seminar on “IARI Towards a World-class Higher Education Institution” on September 29–30, 2025, at the NASC Complex, New Delhi. The event brought together around 100 eminent scientists, policymakers, academicians, industry leaders, and young researchers to discuss strategies for positioning IARI as a globally recognized centre of higher education, research, and innovation.
The seminar’s sessions focused on aligning IARI’s growth with the National Education Policy (NEP 2020) and transforming it into a Multidisciplinary Education and Research University (MERU).
Inaugurating the event, Dr M.L. Jat, Director General, ICAR, emphasized the importance of holistic and multidisciplinary education and urged IARI to craft a distinctive capability statement and value proposition to serve as a model for other universities.
Dr R.S. Paroda, President of IAA, highlighted IARI’s legacy as a pioneering land-grant institution integrating teaching, research, and extension. He called for strengthening composite courses, enhancing education quality, implementing the Model Act, and deepening global partnerships to place IARI among the world’s top 100 universities.
Dr Ch. Srinivasa Rao, Director, IARI, and Chief Patron of IAA, presented a roadmap to elevate IARI’s global standing through infrastructure modernization and capacity building. Dr Anupama Singh, Joint Director (Education), IARI, and Patron of IAA, presented a SWOT analysis and a strategic plan to transform IARI into a world-class, research-intensive institution within a defined timeframe.
International perspectives were shared by Prof. Kadambot Siddique of the University of Western Australia, Dr K. Maredia of Michigan State University, and Dr R.S. Kanwar, Former Vice-Chancellor of LPU, Phagwara, who underscored the role of innovation, entrepreneurship, and collaboration in building global academic excellence.
The deliberations marked a major step toward IARI’s vision of evolving into a globally benchmarked agricultural university fostering innovation, leadership, and sustainability in higher education.
A Youth Forum and Essay Competition were also organized to engage young faculty and students in envisioning IARI’s future.
Key recommendations from the seminar included:
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Developing world-class infrastructure for advanced teaching, research, and innovation.
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Reforming curricula to encourage interdisciplinary research.
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Promoting collaborations with leading international universities.
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Strengthening industry–academic partnerships for research translation.
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Introducing incentives for excellence in teaching and research.
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Implementing capacity-building programs for future scientific and academic leadership.
The seminar was attended by several distinguished dignitaries, including
Dr R.B. Singh (Former Director, IARI), Dr. Sanjay Kumar (Chairman, ASRB), Dr P.K. Khosla (Chancellor, Shoolini University, Solan), Dr R.C. Agrawal (Former DDG, Education, ICAR), Dr S.L. Mehta (Former Vice-Chancellor, MPUAT), Dr Anupam Varma (Adjunct Professor, IARI), Dr Ashok Kumar Singh (Former Director, IARI), Dr Anil Kumar Singh (Secretary, IAA), Prof. Manoj Kumar Dhar (Director, AcSIR), Dr A.S. Yadav (ADG, Education Division, ICAR), Dr C. Viswanathan (Joint Director, Research, IARI), Avichal Raj Kapur (Joint Secretary, UGC), Hemendra Mathur (Co-founder, YLink-Ag), Dr S. Baskar Reddy (Senior Adviser, Syngenta), Dr. Neena Mitter (Deputy Vice-Chancellor Associate – Global Research, Charles Sturt University, Australia), Prof. U.P. Singh (Director, IAS, BHU, Varanasi) and Dr P. Malik (Agrinnovate India Ltd., ICAR), among others.