ICAR AIEEA PG Eligibility 2026: Age, Degree and OGPA

ICAR AIEEA PG eligibility decides whether you can sit the entrance test for Master's admission in agriculture and allied sciences across the ICAR agricultural university system. The National Testing Agency (NTA) conducts the exam on behalf of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), and the rules on this page come from the official ICAR AIEEA PG 2026-27 Information Bulletin. The 2026 exam was held on 4 July 2026, so these are the rules that apply to this year's counselling and admissions.

Eligibility here is more than an age and a degree. Your degree length, your OGPA on your university's scale, the exact bachelor's degree you hold and your category decide whether you can apply and which subject group you can choose. The 2027 bulletin is not out yet, but these rules have stayed largely stable across recent cycles.

Table of Contents

• ICAR AIEEA PG Eligibility

• Nationality and Age Limit

• Educational Qualification

• Final-Year Students and Degree Deadlines

• Minimum OGPA and Percentage

• Subject Group-wise Eligibility

• Reservation, UPS and PwBD Rules

• In-Service Candidates

• Eligibility for the ICAR-PG Scholarship

• Who Is Not Eligible

• What About PhD (AICE-JRF/SRF) Eligibility?

• Eligibility Checklist Before You Apply

ICAR AIEEA PG Eligibility

Nationality and Age Limit

Only Indian nationals can apply for ICAR AIEEA PG. The bulletin also makes a point that many candidates miss: applying for, appearing in or qualifying the exam does not by itself make you eligible for admission. Eligibility is checked again, with documents, at counselling and at the university.

Minimum age

You must be at least 19 years old as on 31 August of the admission year. For the 2026-27 session, that date was 31 August 2026, so you needed to be born on or before 31 August 2007. No age relaxation is allowed for any category.

The 2027-28 row is a projection based on the current rule, not an official figure. Confirm it in the next bulletin.

Upper age limit

The bulletin sets no upper age limit, so working professionals and older graduates can apply. Individual universities may still apply their own conditions at admission.

Educational Qualification

The qualifying degree is the most important part of ICAR AIEEA PG eligibility, because it controls both whether you can apply and which subjects you can pick later.

Accepted degree length

• Four-year degree: A 12+4 bachelor's degree such as B.Sc. (Ag.), B.Sc. (Hons.) Agriculture, B.Sc. Horticulture or B.Tech. in an allied discipline.

• Six-year integrated degree: A 10+6 programme in agriculture or an allied field.

• Veterinary degree: The five or five-and-a-half-year B.V.Sc. and A.H.

Three-year bachelor's degrees

Three-year degrees are generally not accepted in the ICAR agricultural university system. The exception is a set of programmes at IARI, IVRI and NDRI, where the institute's own eligibility criteria apply and some 10+2+3 B.Sc. graduates are accepted. One note in the bulletin names only IARI and NDRI, so if you hold a three-year degree, check the specific programme in the subject-wise table of the bulletin before you apply.

Graduates from non-agricultural streams

Where a programme accepts a non-agricultural graduate, the Master's degree lasts three years instead of two, with the first year spent on remedial and introductory agriculture courses.

Recognition of your degree

Degree equivalence is decided by the university that admits you, following the UGC public notice of 19 July 2016. ICAR is not responsible if a university refuses a student from a college derecognised by the VCI or UGC, so settle any doubt about your college before you apply.

Final-Year Students and Degree Deadlines

You can apply while in the final year of your bachelor's degree. However, you must meet every degree requirement by a fixed date, and you must prove it at counselling.

Veterinary candidates get a later date because the Veterinary Council of India has asked colleges to end the academic year in December. They are allowed to sit the exam provisionally and must show proof of completion at counselling.

If you cannot produce the degree or certificate at verification, you can be refused admission even with a good rank. Admission is also valid only for the 2026-27 session, so a seat cannot be deferred to a later year.

Minimum OGPA and Percentage

You must pass your bachelor's degree with a minimum Overall Grade Point Average (OGPA). Because universities use different grading scales, the bulletin gives a separate minimum for each scale.

Rules that catch candidates out

• No rounding: Your OGPA or percentage is used exactly as awarded. The bulletin's own example is that 49.99% does not become 50%, so a 6.59 does not count as 6.60.

• No conversion: You cannot convert your OGPA into a percentage, or the other way round, to meet the minimum. Use the figure on your university's own scale.

• Use the correct scale row: A 6.80 on a 10-point scale and a 6.80 on a 9-point scale are different results. Check which scale your marksheet uses.

• Universities can ask for more: Some universities set higher conditions for particular subjects. The ICAR minimum is only the floor.

What this means for you

Say you are a General category B.Sc. (Ag.) student with an OGPA of 6.55 out of 10. You fall short of 6.60 and are not eligible, even though 6.55 would round to 6.6. An SC candidate with the same 6.55 clears the 5.60 minimum. If you are in your final year and close to the line, your last semester grades matter more than any exam score.

Subject Group-wise Eligibility

You choose one of the 20 major subject groups when you apply. The specific sub-subject, such as Agronomy or Plant Pathology, is chosen later at counselling. At both stages, your bachelor's degree must be listed against that sub-subject in the bulletin. The table below summarises the main degrees accepted at state and central agricultural universities.

This is a summary. The bulletin lists accepted degrees for each of the 81 sub-subjects, plus separate alternate qualifications at IARI and NDRI, some of which accept three-year B.Sc. graduates. Before you lock your group, find your exact degree in that sub-subject row.

Reservation, UPS and PwBD Rules

Reservation applies to All India Quota seats. It does not change the age rule, but SC, ST, PwBD and Third Gender candidates get the lower OGPA minimum.

• State-list OBC: Candidates on a state OBC list only must not choose OBC (NCL).

• UPS states and UTs: Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Goa, Lakshadweep, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and Ladakh.

• PwBD support: Eligible candidates can opt for a scribe at registration and get at least 20 minutes of compensatory time per hour.

• State cap: No more than 40% of candidates from one state can be admitted to a university in a given subject and category.

Category and PwBD status cannot be changed after you submit the form.

In-Service Candidates

If you already work in the agricultural sector, you can apply as an in-service candidate. You must still appear in the overall merit list for your subject, as there is no separate exam. Your employer must be an ICAR institute, an agricultural university, a central university with an agriculture faculty, a central or state agriculture department, or an agriculture-related public sector undertaking. You produce the employer's sponsorship certificate at counselling and arrange study leave yourself.

Eligibility for the ICAR-PG Scholarship

Exam eligibility does not automatically make you eligible for the ICAR-PG scholarship. Extra conditions apply:

• Already in a Master's programme: You can still apply if you had not completed one year of that programme on the exam date.

• Previous awardees: Anyone who has already received the scholarship cannot get it again, though they can take admission on merit.

• Duration and bond: It runs for two years from registration with no extension, and you sign a surety bond at registration.

• Reserved scholarships: SC and ST reservation covers scholarships as well as seats. The bulletin states there are no reserved scholarships for EWS, OBC (NCL) or UPS candidates.

Who Is Not Eligible

Three-year graduates outside the IARI, IVRI and NDRI exceptions, candidates below the OGPA minimum by even 0.01, final-year students who miss the completion deadline, candidates under 19 on the reference date, graduates whose degree is not listed for their sub-subject, and non-Indian nationals cannot be admitted. The bulletin is also clear that an admit card does not confirm eligibility. If you are found ineligible at any stage, including after admission, your candidature or admission is cancelled.

What About PhD (AICE-JRF/SRF) Eligibility?

The doctoral entrance, AICE-JRF/SRF (PhD), is held by NTA on the same day as AIEEA PG but has its own bulletin and eligibility rules. It requires a Master's degree in the relevant discipline, with the minimum OGPA and subject conditions set in that bulletin, so do not apply the PG rules above to it. Download the PhD bulletin from the NTA ICAR portal and check your discipline there.

Eligibility Checklist Before You Apply

1. Check your date of birth against the age reference date for your cycle.

2. Confirm your degree length is four years or more, or that you qualify for an IARI, IVRI or NDRI exception.

3. Find your OGPA on your university's own scale and compare it with the right row of the table above.

4. Match your degree to the sub-subjects you want, then choose the major group that contains them.

5. Arrange your certificates: central OBC (NCL), EWS, SC, ST, PwBD or UPS domicile, and a sponsorship certificate if you are in service.

All rules on this page are taken from the ICAR AIEEA PG 2026-27 Information Bulletin. Older pages may still show the retired AIEEA UG rules, so always follow the bulletin for your cycle.