Agricultural education and training in India strengthen farm sector transformation.

Agriculture continues to form the backbone of the Indian economy, as it provides livelihood to almost half of the population and accounts for about 18% of the national GDP.

Core to this will be increasing productivity and sustainability in the sector, besides strengthening education, research, and training. 

ICAR continues to pursue technology transfer through its 731 KVKs and maintains academic standards through the ICAR Model Act (Revised 2023) besides institutional accreditation through the National Agricultural Education Accreditation Board.

The country has a large system of agricultural education that comprises 63 State Agricultural Universities, three Central Agricultural Universities, viz., Pusa, Imphal and Jhansi, four Deemed Universities, viz., IARI-Delhi, NDRI-Karnal, IVRI-Izatnagar and CIFE-Mumbai, and four Central Universities having faculties in agriculture.

Eleven ATARIs, or Agricultural Technology Application Research Institutes, further strengthen technology dissemination.

The private sector has also become a growing contributor: from only five ICAR-accredited private agricultural colleges in 2020–21, their number rises to 22 in 2024–25, marking increasing participation in education beyond the public system.

Each one has a regional role among the three Central Agricultural Universities.

Farming training and skill development remain extremely important in transforming India’s agriculture. Other programs such as STRY, SMAM, PMKVY among several others, coupled with activities under KVKs and ATMA, have been continuing grassroot capacity-building exercises. 

In fact, KVKs have trained over 58 lakh farmers between 2021–22 and 2023–24, with another 18.56 lakh in the first ten months of 2024–25. ATMA has trained almost 1.27 crore farmers between 2021 and 2025, while STRY has trained over 51,000 rural youth in various short-term vocational courses. Mechanization training under SMAM was imparted to over 57,000 farmers, while more than 25 crore cards were distributed under the Soil Health Card Scheme, supported by 93,000 trainings and 6.8 lakh demonstrations on nutrient management. More than 10,000 FPOs have already been registered across the country for building market-oriented capacity and undertaking Aggregated, these educational efforts, innovative initiatives, and empowerment of farmers are the building blocks for Indians to achieve “One Nation – One Agriculture – One Team” and attain a sustainable and prosperous agricultural future, which is a