New Delhi: Even after 50 days since the National Testing Agency (NTA) declared CUET-UG 2025 results on July 4, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has not announced the online counselling schedule for undergraduate agriculture courses. The delay has left thousands of aspirants anxious about losing an academic year and falling behind peers who have already secured admission through state-level counsellings.
Teachers at agricultural universities have warned that the prolonged admission process will shorten the academic calendar, reducing time for classroom teaching as well as practical exposure. ICAR officials cite “streamlining of admission mechanism” behind the delay in counselling and added that the counseling process will begin in September.
In its information bulletin released in March 2025, ICAR announced that Common University Entrance Test-Undergraduate (CUET-UG) 2025 scores will be used for admission to various four-year undergraduate programs in agriculture and allied sciences (excluding veterinary) including B.Sc. (Hons.) Agriculture, B.Sc. (Hons.) Horticulture, B.F.Sc. Fisheries, B.Sc. (Hons.) agribusiness management, and B.Tech. courses in Agricultural Engineering, Dairy Technology, Food Technology, and Biotechnology.
Through its counselling, ICAR will fill 20% All India Quota (AIQ) seats in 63 State Agricultural Universities (SAUs). It will also fill 100% seats in central agricultural universities, which include Rani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural University (RLBCAU) in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh; Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University (RPCAU), Samastipur, Bihar; ICAR–National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) in Karnal, Haryana; and the ICAR–Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) campuses in Jharkhand and Assam. ICAR counselling also covers AIQ seats in four Central Universities with agriculture faculties — Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh (15%), Aligarh Muslim University in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh (5%), Visva-Bharati University in Santiniketan, West Bengal (15%), and Nagaland University in Medziphema, Nagaland (20%).
In the bulletin, ICAR has listed 7,325 AIQ seats across 12 subjects, with the highest in B.F.Sc. fisheries (2,159 seats) and the lowest in B.Sc. (Hons.) sericulture (17 seats). “…However, the final number of seats will be displayed on ICAR website www.icar.org.in at the time of online counseling,” ICAR said in its bulletin. Last year, ICAR opened counselling registration on August 7, just 10 days after CUET-UG 2024 results were declared on July 28, for 5,842 AIQ seats.
Candidates are demanding ICAR to release the online counselling schedule for academic session 2025-26.
Inspired by his father who works in Odisha’s agriculture department, Arun Kumar Behera aspires to study B.Sc. Agriculture at a central university. “All my friends have secured admission in various undergraduate courses… I am worried about my future. ICAR should release the schedule without any delay,” he said.
Abhishek Nayak from Cuttack, Odisha, who is eyeing admission in a B.Sc. (Hons.) agriculture course at a central university, said, “I did not apply for the ongoing state-level counselling as I am waiting for ICAR counselling to secure admission in any central universities as they have better faculties, facilities and placement records.” He added that if ICAR fails to announce the schedule before state counselling ends, he may apply in state-counselling as he fears “wasting my year.”
Another candidate Mrigank Sinha from Patna, Bihar, fears students admitted through state counselling will get ahead. “Due to late admissions through ICAR counselling, we will not be able to catch up with them or equip ourselves with agricultural tools due to less exposure,” he said.
Ajay Yadav, faculty at Acharya Narendra Deva University of Agriculture and Technology (ANDUAT), Ayodhya said state-level counselling for admission to agriculture courses in SAUs in Uttar Pradesh will conclude in the first week of September, with UG classes beginning after orientation in the second week. “We might have to hold another orientation for students joining through ICAR counselling,” he said, warning that late admissions would mean “students admitted through ICAR counselling will not get full exposure to practical classes.”
Nilesh Rajput, faculty at RLBCAU Jhansi, said the institute fills 100% seats through ICAR counselling, a process that takes about two months to complete. “If counselling is delayed, students join late and miss a big part of the syllabus. To cover the loss, classes are shortened and students bear the loss in getting knowledge and training,” he said.
University officials said that they have not received any communication from ICAR regarding the counselling.
Balraj Singh, the vice-chancellor of Karan Narendra Agriculture University, Jobner, Rajasthan said, even after 50 days of CUET-UG results, “We still don’t have any official information on the counselling and admission process for AIQ quota seats,”
In a notice on June 26, ICAR said, “…The date of registration and details of the ICAR counseling portal will be notified on the ICAR webpage.”
Though ICAR deputy director general (education) Dr Joykrushna Jena did not respond to HT’s queries seeking reasons behind delay in counselling. An ICAR official said, “We are streamlining the admission mechanism and hence there is a delay.” Another ICAR official of the academic wing said, “There has been a slight delay but the admission formalities will be completed by September.”
