The presentation looks at: 1. Structure of Public Agricultural R&D system. 2. Investment in Agricultural R&D. 3. Research Capacity. 4. Research Expenditure. 5. Research Focus and Outputs. 6. Policy Recommendations. Recent trends in agricultural research capacity, investment and outputs in India was organized jointly by IFPRI and NAARM on Wednesday, August 17, 2016 at the NASC Complex, PUSA, New Delhi. During this event, NAARM and IFPRI’s Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators (ASTI) program presented the key findings of a recent comprehensive survey, targeting more than 200 Indian agricultural research agencies.

1. Agricultural Science & Technology
Indicators (ASTI) -
(Indian Perspective)
R. Kalpana Sastry
B. Ganesh Kumar

2. ASTI in the past
• ASTI
– a comprehensive and trusted source of information on
agricultural R&D systems across the developing world.
• Public agricultural R&D
– is almost completely funded by the federal and state
governments.
• Strong government commitment has resulted in
– a near doubling of public investment in agricultural R&D since
the mid-1990’s.
• ASTI, so far,
– focused on measuring inputs into agricultural R&D than
outputs and outcomes.

3. Structure of Public AgR&D System

4. • India is well known
– for its committed largest and well-coordinated public
agricultural research systems in the world.
• Has considerable investment during the past few
decades (Pal and Singh, 1997).
• Ranks fourth in total investments in public
agricultural R&D in the world.
• Past evidences indicate
– high rate of returns from agricultural R&D investments.
Investment in AgR&D

5. ASTI, recent study
• NAARM in collaboration with IFPRI collected data on
– agricultural research capacity, investment and outputs from
the entire NARS.
• From the entire NARES
– 161 institutions participated
– for the period, 2009-2014.
• Datasets created on
– human resources
– financial resources
– research focus
– outputs.
• Both primary sources and secondary sources were used in
the study.

6. Results
• The results and policy implications presented under
the following sub-heads:
– Time Allocation of Researchers
– Research Capacity
– Research Expenditure
– Research Focus
– Research Outputs

7. Time Allocation of Researchers
62.7
35.9
6.2
34.9
15.9
17.4
7.6
7.2
7.7 4.6
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
ICAR SAU
Others
Administration/Management
Training & Extension
Teaching
Research
• ICAR research staff devoted : 62.7% of their time in research
– Needs to be enhanced ; Suggest for mechanisms to reduce their time spent on
administrative aspects
• AU research staff devoted more time on research (35.9%), followed by teaching
(34.9%) and extension (17.4%)
– Suggest for more time on extension than on research, as per mandated role to cater directly
to the needs of farmers through technological solution

8. Research Capacity

9. Total Number of Researchers
23
31 31 31
28
97
103
110
120
114
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14
ICAR AU
Averagenumberperinstitute
FTE Researchers Strength in Public Agricultural R&D Institutions
• Steady Increase in number of researchers working per ICAR institute
• In case of AUs, a steep increase in the initial phase of this period
– May attribute to establishment of many new universities on different sub-sectors
– Leading to recruitments of new faculty

10. • More number of doctorate qualified candidates enter in ARS-ICAR service compared to
entrants in AUs
• ICAR encourages their scientists to get them qualified with PhD at the initial stages of
their career due to their favourable study leave policy.
Distribution of researchers by Qualification
84%
16%
0%
ICAR
Doctorates
Masters
Bachelors 62%
32%
6%
AU
Doctorates
Masters
Bachelors

11. Distribution of Researchers by Age
• In ICAR, maximum number of doctorates fall in the age group of 41-50 years, while in AUs,
the same belonged to the age group of 51-60 years.
• Indicates that more number of researchers get qualified with Ph.D. at relatively younger
age in ICAR than in AUs.
• ICAR also a stable manpower policy in terms of recruitment and promotion.
1 2
0
10 9
6
5
2
0
27
21
2
8
1 0
32
7
2
6
1 0
34
5
21 0 0
21
7
2
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Doctorates Masters Bachelors Doctorates Masters Bachelors
ICAR AU
Averagenumberperinstitute
FTE Researchers by Age (Years) in Public Agricultural R&D Institutions
<31
31-40
41-50
51-60
>60

12. Share of Researchers by Gender
• Hesitation of female candidates to take up ARS and the domestic and cultural
compulsions of female researchers.
• Could negatively result in in-breeding of researchers.
• Need to attract them into the system to enhance the overall productivity, as they have
the inherent strength and advantages of taking up research in certain disciplines.
82%
18%
ICAR
Male
Female
79%
21%
AU
Male
Female

13. Share of Researchers by Gender among Broad
Disciplines of Agriculture
• Agricultural research is carried predominantly by male researchers in both ICAR and AU systems.
• In ICAR, the share of female researchers is more in fisheries (32%), followed by social sciences (21%).
- Location of two large fisheries research institute in the state of Kerala, where sizeable share
of the researchers are females.
• In AUs, the same is more in social sciences (28%), followed by veterinary (20%).
- Most of the AUs has a college or faculty in home sciences which are preferred mostly by
women candidates.
80 82
91
68
87
79
100
81
90
80
87 85
72 71
20 18
9
32
13
21
0
19
10
20
13 15
28 29
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100% Agriculture
Horticulture
Veterinary
Fisheries
AgriculturalEngineering
SocialSciences
Others
Agriculture
Horticulture
Veterinary
Fisheries
AgriculturalEngineering
SocialSciences
Others
ICAR AU
Female
Male

14. Technical Support Services to Researchers
• Continuous decline is because of not much recruitment of technical staff services in
ICAR system for the past many years due to policy decision.
0.81
0.69 0.67
0.62 0.64
0.21
0.10
0.07 0.09
0.11
0.00
0.10
0.20
0.30
0.40
0.50
0.60
0.70
0.80
0.90
2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14
TehnicalstafftoResearcherratio
Technical Support Services to Researchers in Public Agricultural R & D Institutions

15. Administrative Support Services to
Researchers
• The reason here is the same as in the case of technical staff recruitment.
0.83
0.67 0.66 0.64 0.63
0.42
0.15 0.15
0.18
0.29
0.00
0.10
0.20
0.30
0.40
0.50
0.60
0.70
0.80
0.90
2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14
AdministrativestafftoResearcherratio
Administrative Support Services to Researchers in Public Agricultural R & D Institutions

16. Other Support Services to Researchers
• Not much recruitment
• Outsourcing and engagement of contractual services
1.34
1.13
1.10 1.08
1.22
0.52
0.20 0.18 0.17
0.42
0.00
0.20
0.40
0.60
0.80
1.00
1.20
1.40
1.60
2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14
OthersupportstafftoResearcherratio
Other Support Services to Researchers in Public Agricultural R & D Institutions

17. HRD Programmes undergone by Researchers
• ICAR: Large scale capacity building programmes implemented by NAIP during the period.
• AU: Perhaps due to the lack of funding for HRD of researchers and unavailability of such
opportunities.
5.8 7.7 9.5 10.8 9.7
56.2
76.6
46.7
64.2
48.0
0.8 1.1 1.8 1.2 2.2
13.2 15.1
10.5 9.5 8.7
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
80.0
90.0
2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14
ICAR SAU
Averagenumberperinstitute
National International

18. Research Expenditure

19. Total Research Expenditure
Institutes 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2013-14 2014-15
ICAR 181272.6 198908.4 223281.9 232117.3 253861.8
Agricultural
Universities
188370.1 242687.9 291542.2 332716.1 354640.1
Total 369642.7 441596.3 514824.1 564833.4 608501.9
(in lakhs INR adjusted to FTE)
• Expenditure increased in nominal terms. But, the rate of increase
– 88% in AUs
– 40% in ICAR.
• Because several new AUs were formed during this period and more allocation was made
towards creation of infrastructure and payment salaries for the newly recruited staff.
• The increase follows the long term trend in budget outlays for agricultural R&D in the
country.

20. Share of Cost Components in Research
Expenditure
• Indicates that there is a better and efficient allocation of budget towards research in
the former than in the latter.
• It is also understood by the nature of mandates and activities carried out by these two
categories of institutions in our country.
61%
24%
15%
ICAR
Salaries and benefits for all personnel
Operating and program costs
Capital investments
66%
17%
17%
AU
Salaries and benefits for all personnel
Operating and program costs
Capital investments

21. Sources of Research Funding
• Major source of funding for research was core government funding.
• The share was more and stable in case of ICAR and less and declining in AUs.
– The decline in share from state governments is offset by increasing share from other government sources, which is
mainly ICAR itself through its Education division and other external funding agencies.
• ICAR channels a significant portion of funding to AU as development grants and funding for
AICRP (Pal et al. 2012).
• The significant increase in core government funding in ICAR was due to creation of several
new KVKs during this period .
85.7 82.6 85.7 81.5 83.5
89.9 86.2
74.9
68.0
62.0
8.8 11.9 9.6
9.9
12.1
7.8
7.7
20.3
26.5
27.7
5.2 5.2 4.5 8.3 4.2 1.9 5.0 4.4 5.0 9.5
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14
ICAR AU
Government (core funding) Government (other) Loans from development banks
Bilateral and multilateral donors Sale of goods and services Other

22. Research Focus

23. Time Allocation of Agricultural Researchers
by Commodity
8.9
3.4
6.3
1.9
2.1
1.8
5.7
8.6
2.1
5.4
0.3
0.1
0.0
3.1
18.6
8.1
4.0
14.8
4.9
13.6
7.5
4.8
0.8
1.2
0.1
4.7
3.1
0.6
1.6
0.9
0.6
0.0
1.0
32.7
9.6
3.3
6.3
7.7
0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0 35.0
Cereals
Pulses
Oilseeds
Roots and Tubers
Sugar crops and Sweetners
Nuts
Vegetables
Fruits
Flowers and Orchids
Fibres
Spices
Fodder crops
Stimulant crops
Tobacco, rubber and other crops
Livestock and Poultry
Fisheries
Off farm post harvest
Non commodity categories
Others
Average % per institution
AU
ICAR

24. Time Allocation of Agricultural Researchers
by Commodity
• ICAR Researchers devoted
– more time on agricultural crops (49.7%), including horticultural crops
– livestock and poultry (18.6%),
– non-commodity categories (14.8%)
– fisheries (8.1%).
• ICAR researchers devoted considerable time
– non-commodity categories such as natural sources, social sciences, frontier sciences,
etc.
• AU Researchers devoted
– more time on agricultural crops (40.4%),
– livestock and poultry (32.7%),
– fisheries (9.6%)
– non-commodity categories (6.3%).
• AU Researchers devoted more time
– cereals (13.6%) and pulses (7.5%) than their colleagues in ICAR.
• Relatively more share of time on research on livestock, poultry and
fisheries
– might be due to the creation of several new universities separately for these faculties.

25. Time Allocation of Agricultural Researchers
by Thematic Area
14.9
10.6
9.7
1.5
2.7
1.5
2.4
3.8
2.2
1.0
0.7
0.8
2.1
1.6
1.3
0.7
7.0
5.5
6.0
1.5
2.2
2.2
13.0
2.1
3.0
11.7
11.0
8.8
1.3
5.2
7.6
5.5
13.1
2.9
2.2
2.1
2.5
2.7
2.5
2.9
0.7
1.7
2.4
2.5
1.2
1.2
2.1
4.3
0.4
1.5
0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0 12.0 14.0 16.0
Crop genetic improvement
Crop production (incl. agronomic aspects, fertilizer research, INM, etc.)
Crop protection
Other crop-related themes
Animal genetic improvement
Livestock management
Pastures / animal nutrition / feed management
Livestock health
Other livestock related themes
Fish genetic improvement
Fish nutrition
Fish health
Fish resources management (both marine and inland, incl. stock…
Soil
Water
Other natural resources
Biodiversity, germplasm conservation
Frontier areas (nanotechnology, biotechnology, etc.)
On-farm storage, post harvest management and processing
Food safety
Agricultural engineering / Farm mechanization
Farming systems
Socio-economics and policy research, Extension, Information science,…
Gender
Other
Average % per institution
AU
ICAR

26. Time Allocation of Agricultural Researchers
by Thematic Area
• ICAR devoted slightly more time (14%) on research in the thematic
areas of crop genetic improvement than AUs (11.7%).
• Both devoted equal share of their time on crop production (10.6% and
11%) and crop protection (9.7% and 8.8% respectively).
• As understood, ICAR researchers spent considerable time on research
– biodiversity and germplasm conservation
– frontier areas
– food safety
– on-farm storage, post-harvest and farm mechanization
– socio-economic research than their counterparts in AUs.
• AUs work more on
– variety and breed improvements for extension to the public stakeholders.

27. Research Outputs

28. Development of new crop varieties, new animal /
poultry / fish breeds, strains, lines, transgenics and
new agricultural technologies
Category
Number of
Institutes
Reported
No. of the developed products/
varieties/ breeds
Total Average
ICAR
Crops 22 339 15.41
Animals 9 40 4.44
Microbes/ Transgenics /Lines 6 90 15.00
Technologies/ Products 52 607 11.67
AUs
Crops 08 161 20.1
Animals 08 19 2.4
Technologies/ Products 14 280 20
• It is one of the very important indicators of agricultural R&D outputs by the
NARS system.

29. Publications, 2009-10 to 2013-14
• The productivity of researchers in terms of research papers in national and international
journals and e-publications/open access articles in ICAR witnessed a positive trend. On an
average, the researcher in ICAR produces 1.97 and 0.87 papers in national and
international journals per annum respectively.
0.38
0.54
0.69 0.73
0.87
0.73
1.45
1.09
0.72
1.070.99
1.33
1.50
1.63
1.97
3.35 3.31
4.59
3.94
3.59
0.08 0.04
0.21
0.06
0.17
0.01
0.16 0.16 0.08 0.13
0.00
0.50
1.00
1.50
2.00
2.50
3.00
3.50
4.00
4.50
5.00
2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14
ICAR SAU
Research articles in international journals Research articles in national journals e-publications / open access articles

30. Recognitions and Awards received by
Researchers, Teachers, Extension specialists
and Institutes
• An increasing trend is seen towards the recognitions and awards especially from the
Professional Societies and national awards.
• The award pattern in AUs were similar to ICAR.
0
0.02
0.04
0.06
0.08
0.1
0.12
2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14
ICAR AU
Recoginitionsperresearcher
International Award National Award State Award Awards from professional societies

31. Policy Recommendations
Research Capacity ICAR AUs
i. Manpower  Current efforts on manpower
requirement should be
continued in a phased manner.
 Shortfall in positions of faculty
in AUs needs to be
augmented.
ii. Study Leave Policy  Current study leave policy
should be continued.
 AUs warrant a more
favourable study leave policy.
iii. Gender  Need to develop adequate
policy for recruitment such as
special drive, choice of
posting, preference for certain
disciplines, etc. to attract more
women researchers into ICAR.
 Need to develop adequate
policy for recruitment such as
special drive, choice of
posting, preference for certain
disciplines, etc. to attract more
women researchers into AUs.
iv. Job Profile  More time should be devoted
on research by the scientists.
 Efforts should be made by the
faculty to enhance their
activities on extension.

32. Policy Recommendations
Research Expenditure ICAR AUs
Investments on R&D  Investments on operating
and programme costs
should be enhanced to
improve the research
efficiency in ICAR.
 Investments on operating
and programme costs
should be enhanced to
improve the research
efficiency in AUs.

33. Policy Recommendations
Research Focus ICAR AUs
Thematic area  Continue focus on issues of
national importance
particularly in areas of
biodiversity conservation;
Post harvest technology-
storage and management;
frontier areas to give
stewardship of broad areas
in agricultural research.
 More focus on applied
research viz. varietal
development and plant
protection measures for
adoption to the
requirements of the
state/region.

34. Policy Recommendations
Research Outputs ICAR AUs
Publications  Encourage the current trend
of increase of papers in
peer-reviewed journals and
open access periodicals.
 Faculty need to publish
more on NAAS rated
journals to improve their
research productivity.

35. • Need to institutionalize the initiative of recording
these vital information in NARES
• AUs should start the system of publishing Annual
Reports as in the case of ICAR
• ICAR could think of sensitizing the higher authorities
of AU system about the utility of the information
generated for convincing the poliy makers and
donors
• Private sector which considerably supports the
Agricultural R&D should be covered in future surveys
Future Directions

36. Thank You