Kerala Agricultural University upgrades rating to Grade A, secures accreditation for five years

The National Agricultural Education Accreditation Board (NAEAB) has accredited Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) and its constituent colleges for a period of five years, from March 11, 2024 to March 10, 2029, KAU officials said on Saturday. KAU has also improved its rating by securing an overall score of 3.14 out of 4, which is equivalent to an A-grade.

In the previous semester (2019 to 2023) the total score was 2.90 out of 4.00, which corresponds to a B.

The College of Agriculture, Ambalavayal, Wayanad, received accreditation for the first time. The accredited institutions include the Colleges of Agriculture at Vellanikkara (Thrissur), Vellayani (Thiruvananthapuram), Padannakkad (Kasaragod) and Ambalavayal, (Wayanad); the Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Food Technology, Tavanur, Malappuram; and the College of Forestry, Vellanikkara.

“We are very happy that we have improved our status to Grade A. There was some concern among the students about the accreditation, but we have got it back to Grade A. That shows a significant improvement in the last three years,” said B. Ashok, Vice Chancellor, KAU.

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in New Delhi issued a notification in this regard on July 12.

Accreditation was awarded to the BSc. (Hons.) Agriculture programmes of all four colleges, as well as to the BSc (Hons.) Forestry, BTech Agricultural Engineering and MBA Agribusiness Management programmes of the College of Cooperation, Banking and Management, Vellanikkara. In addition, MSc, PhD and MTech programmes of the colleges have all received accreditation.

This achievement is the result of a rigorous peer review process by a team of experts led by JS Sandhu, former Vice Chancellor of Sri Karan Narendra Agriculture University, Jobner, Rajasthan, KAU said.