ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute (ICAR-NDRI), Karnal, topped the list followed by ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (icar-iari), New Delhi, and G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology (GBPUA&T), Pantnagar, in the 2nd and 3rd slots respectively. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) released the 2018 ranking of agricultural universities and research institutes at the ICAR Foundation Day held at New Delhi on July 16, 2019. With an improvement of 26 places in the list, the Dr Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry (YSP UHF), Nauni (Solan district, Himachal Pradesh) secured the 12th place in the ranking.
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The ICAR ranking of agricultural universities and institutes was begun in 2016 to rate them and thus improve the standard of higher agricultural education and research in the country.
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In all, 60 agricultural universities of India featured in the ranking this year. The universities were judged on parameters like student and faculty profile, publications and citations, research, technologies commercialised, etc. In 2016, YSP UHF had been placed at the 51st position, which it had improved to 38 in 2017. The university has been continuously ranked among the top universities in the country.
For the past three years, YSP UHF has been the highest-ranked university in Himachal Pradesh in the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development’s NIRF rankings. In 2019, the university had achieved the 80th position among top 100 universities in the country and was the only one from Himachal Pradesh to find a place in this list.
The university performed quite well on various parameters including the performance of students in ICAR NET, JRF, SRF, and other state- and national-level competitive examinations. Placement of students in public and private enterprises, quality publications, technology transfer initiatives, implementation of ICAR Deans’ committee recommendations, timely release of grants from the state government, and internal revenue generation were areas which helped the university to make a mark.
The top-ranking universities in the list include: Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agriculture University (CCSHAU), Hisar (4th), ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute (ICAR-IVRI), Bareilly (5th), Prof. Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU), Hyderabad (6th), Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana (7th), Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU), Ludhiana (8th), Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya (JNKVV), Jabalpur (9th), Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya (IGKV), Raipur (10th), and Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Krishi Visvavidyalaya (CSK HPKV), Palampur (11th).
Nauni University Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry (YSP UHF), Solan, was established on December 1, 1985, with the objective to promote education, research, and extension education in the fields of horticulture, forestry, and allied disciplines. Late Yashwant Singh Parmar, the first chief minister and architect of Himachal Pradesh, perceived the importance of horticulture and forestry to develop and improve the state economy, which led to the establishment of this university. Its history lies in the erstwhile Himachal Agricultural College, Solan, established in 1962 and affiliated to the Punjab University, Chandigarh. It became one of the campuses of the Agriculture Complex of Himachal Pradesh University on its formation in 1970.
Consequent upon the establishment of the Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya in 1978, this campus became its Horticulture Complex and, finally, in 1985, assumed the status of a state university, being the only university in the country engaged exclusively in teaching, research, and extension in horticulture and forestry.