New Delhi, September 30, 2025 – 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 seminar brought together around 100 distinguished scientists, policymakers, academicians, industry leaders, and young researchers to deliberate on strategies for transforming IARI into a globally recognized hub of higher education, research, and innovation.
The sessions focused on strengthening IARI’s global higher education ecosystem, aligning with the National Education Policy (NEP-2020), and evolving into a Multidisciplinary Education and Research University (MERU).
Eminent speakers, including Dr. M.L. Jat (DG, ICAR), Dr. R.S. Paroda (President, IAA), Dr. Ch. Srinivasa Rao (Chief Patron, IAA and Director, IARI), Prof. Kadambot Siddique (Director, Institute of Agriculture, University of Western Australia), Dr. R.S. Kanwar (Former VC, LPU, Phagwara) and Dr. K. Maredia (Director, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources International Programs, Michigan State University)emphasized that innovation, entrepreneurship, and international collaboration will be key drivers of IARI’s global positioning.
A dedicated Youth Forum and an Essay Competition were also organized to engage young faculty and students in envisioning IARI’s future trajectory.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. M.L. Jat highlighted the need for holistic and multidisciplinary research and education, urging IARI to develop a unique capability statement and value proposition to serve as a role model for other universities.
Dr. R.S. Paroda underscored IARI’s legacy as a revolutionary land-grant institution integrating teaching, research, and extension. He called for strengthening composite courses, enhancing the quality of education, implementing the Model Act, fostering global collaborations and building capacities to position IARI among the world’s top 100 universities.
Dr. Ch. Srinivasa Rao presented IARI’s major achievements and outlined a roadmap to enhance its global standing through world-class infrastructure and capacity building for scientists and students. Dr. Anupama Singh, Patron of IAA and Joint Director (Education), IARI, presented a comprehensive SWOT analysis along with a strategic roadmap to transform IARI into a world-class, research-intensive higher education institution within a defined timeframe. Sharing his experience, Prof. Kadambot Siddique discussed how his University of Western Australia achieved global recognition with a limited scientific strength and offered a five-year roadmap for IARI’s advancement.
The following key recommendations emerged from the deliberations.
- Building world-class infrastructure to support advanced teaching, research, and innovation.
- Revisiting course curricula and framing flexible programs with an emphasis on interdisciplinary research.
- Collaboration with top international institutions abroad for joint programs, research, and faculty/student exchange.
- Industry–academic partnerships for research translation and commercialization.
- Incentives for high performers—both teachers and researchers—to encourage excellence.
- Human resource development programs to build future-ready scientific and academic leadership.
Prominent dignitaries present included 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), Mr. Avichal Raj Kapur (Joint Secretary, UGC), Mr. 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).