The Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board (ASRB) has thrown open applications for 48 senior Research Management Positions across the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) network, in one of the largest recruitment drives for the country’s agricultural research leadership in recent years.
The notification, Vacancy Advertisement No. 01/2026, was issued on August 13 by the Board, which functions under the Department of Agricultural Research & Education in the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare. The posts on offer range from Deputy Director General and Director to Assistant Director General and Joint Director, spread across ICAR headquarters in New Delhi and research institutes in states from Himachal Pradesh to Tamil Nadu.
According to the notification, online applications will open on September 25 at 10 am and close on October 23 at 5 pm, with the fee payment window closing at the same time. The Board said the application link would be automatically disabled once the deadline passed, and urged candidates to apply well in advance rather than wait for the final date.
Applicants must be Indian citizens who have not turned 60 as of the October 23 closing date. All appointments are on a tenure basis for five years, and ASRB clarified that selection would not entitle any candidate to permanent absorption or continuation in service beyond the prescribed term.
A wide spread of institutes
The 48 vacancies touch almost every corner of India’s agricultural research establishment. At ICAR headquarters in New Delhi, the Board is seeking a Deputy Director General for Agricultural Engineering along with Assistant Director Generals for International Relations, Agronomy & Climate Change, Animal Production and Breeding, Information & Communication Technology, Seed, and Oilseeds & Pulses.
Beyond Delhi, the list includes director-level vacancies at institutes such as the Indian Veterinary Research Institute in Izatnagar, the Central Institute for Arid Horticulture in Bikaner, the Directorate of Onion & Garlic Research in Pune, the Central Citrus Research Institute in Nagpur, the Directorate of Weed Research in Jabalpur, and the Central Plantation Crops Research Institute in Kasargod.
Other institutes on the list include the Central Island Agricultural Research Institute in Port Blair, the Central Agroforestry Research Institute in Jhansi, the Central Coastal Agricultural Research Institute in Old Goa, the Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture in Hyderabad, and the Central Soil Salinity Research Institute in Karnal.
Fisheries and animal science institutes feature prominently too — among them the Central Institute for Coldwater Fisheries Research in Bhimtal, the Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture in Chennai, the Central Avian Research Institute in Izatnagar, the Central Institute for Research on Buffaloes in Hisar, the Central Sheep and Wool Research Institute in Avikanagar, the National Meat Research Institute in Hyderabad, the National Institute of Foot and Mouth Disease in Bhubaneswar, the National Research Centre on Pig in Guwahati, and the Directorate of Poultry Research in Hyderabad.
Crop science and engineering institutes round out the list, including the National Institute of Agricultural Economics & Policy Research, the Central Institute of Post-Harvest Engineering and Technology in Ludhiana, the National Institute of Natural Fibre Engineering and Technology in Kolkata, the Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute, the newly notified National Research Centre on Makhana in Darbhanga, four Agricultural Technology Application Research Institutes in Patna, Kanpur, Guwahati and Hyderabad, the National Rice Research Institute in Cuttack, the National Institute of Seed Science & Technology in Mau, the Indian Institute of Rice Research and Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research, the National Bureau of Plant & Genetic Resources, the National Bureau of Agricultural Insects Resources in Bengaluru, and the Indian Institute of Maize Research in Ludhiana.
The list closes with three posts at the Joint Director level — at the National Institute of Biotic Stress Management in Raipur, the Central Institute of Fisheries Education in Mumbai, and the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in New Delhi.
Pay and qualifications
Most of the Director, Assistant Director General and Joint Director posts carry pay at Research Level-14, in the band of Rs 1,44,200 to Rs 2,18,200, with a rationalised entry pay of Rs 1,44,200. The Deputy Director General post and the Director’s post at the Indian Veterinary Research Institute in Izatnagar carry a fixed salary of Rs 2,10,000, with the latter also drawing an additional special allowance of Rs 11,250.
On eligibility, the Board has laid out three broad routes candidates can use to qualify. The first rests on holding a relevant doctoral degree in the subject concerned, or a Ph.D. in a related basic science backed by years of post-doctoral research experience. The second concerns seniority — candidates typically need several years of experience as a Principal Scientist or Professor, though the Board has also created an alternative “Eminent Scientist” pathway for candidates who hold national or international awards, are fellows of recognised science academies, have a strong record of highly rated publications, and have led multi-institutional research programmes.
A third alternative route recognises candidates who have spent many years as programme leaders or directors with CGIAR or other international research organisations. Alongside these, candidates must also show evidence of a broader vision for agricultural research through their publications and other contributions.
Because the exact requirements differ from post to post, the Board has advised applicants to study the qualifications listed against each specific vacancy before applying, noting that it has no role in setting these criteria — that responsibility lies with ICAR — and that it will not entertain queries about them.
How to apply
Candidates must apply online through the portal oasis.asrb.gov.in, accessible via the Board’s main website, asrb.gov.in. No other mode of application will be accepted, the notification said.
An application fee of Rs 1,500 is payable separately for each post through the government’s Bharatkosh payment platform, using a debit card, credit card, net banking or UPI. Women candidates and those from Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Divyang (persons with benchmark disabilities) categories are exempt from the fee. The Board said fees, once paid, would not be refunded under any circumstances.
Applicants are also required to upload a set of supporting documents, including a photograph and signature, proof of date of birth, a valid photo identity document, their Ph.D. certificate, a No Objection Certificate from their current employer — or an undertaking, if they are not currently employed — along with service and experience certificates in formats specified in the notification.
The Board cautioned that no changes can be made to an application once it has been submitted, and that candidates found to have furnished false or misleading information at any stage would have their candidature cancelled and could face debarment from future ASRB recruitment processes. In-service candidates whose applications are not accompanied by a valid No Objection Certificate from their parent department will have their applications rejected outright, it said.
Candidates may apply for more than one post, including across different categories, though they must pay the fee and submit category-specific qualification details separately for each. Where a candidate submits multiple applications for the same post, only the most recent one will be considered.
For queries, the Board has asked candidates to write to support-asrb@asrb.gov.in, citing the relevant item number and advertisement number, or to call its New Delhi office during working hours on weekdays.