Administration of international co-operation in Indian agricultural research

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to study the organisational development of international co-operation in Indian agricultural research. The organisational set up of the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) is described and the structural response to international co-operation is analysed. The primary aim of the paper is to show the importance of international co-operation in research activities and the significance of a suitable structural mechanism for dealing with administrative problems. A brief historical sketch of the ICAR, since its inception in 1929, is given, with more detailed attention being paid to the post-independence period. As a result, the paper also emphasises the level of coherence between the international collaboration policy and socio-economic goals. From the several reorganisations it appears that there was conscious thinking but that comprehensive treatment was not forthcoming. An institutional facility like the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) was provided only in the early 1970s to facilitate the administration of international co-operation which has widened the scope of co-ordination between several national and international agencies.