UP Agricultural Scientist Award 2026-27: 20 Awards, ₹6.94 Lakh, Apply by 12 November

The Uttar Pradesh Council of Agricultural Research (UPCAR), Lucknow, has invited applications for the Uttar Pradesh Agricultural Scientist Award 2026-27 (Uttar Pradesh Krishi Vaigyanik Samman Yojana). It is open to scientists, teachers and extension workers of the state agricultural universities and government agricultural colleges of Uttar Pradesh, and, for the Best Ph.D. Thesis Award, to students who completed their Ph.D. at one of them.

The deadline is short and strict. Hard copies must reach the UPCAR office on or before 12 November 2026; applications that arrive later "will not be entertained", the advertisement says. Posting on the 12th is not enough — the papers have to be in Lucknow.

There are 20 awards in five classes, worth ₹6.94 lakh in all, across six subject areas: agricultural science; vegetable and horticultural science; animal husbandry, veterinary and fisheries science; agricultural engineering, post-harvest technology and food processing; biotechnology; and social sciences (extension education, agricultural economics, home science and agricultural statistics).

The official documentU.P. Agricultural Scientist Award 2026-27, completeUPCAR's advertisement, the scheme note in Hindi, both application formats, both scorecards, the general guidelines and the NAAS journal score list used for marking.Download the documentPDF · 56 pages · 2.0 MB

Three rules decide more applications than the marks do:

• The Lifetime Achievement Award cannot be applied for. Vice-Chancellors of the agricultural universities and principals of the agricultural colleges send the bio-data of the scientists they nominate, with their recommendation.
• One award per category per lifetime. Someone who has already won, say, the Young Scientist Award cannot win it again.
• A separate application for each award. Applying for two awards means two complete sets.

UPCAR's scheme note opens with the state's record: by its account Uttar Pradesh contributed 20% of India's 357.73 million tonnes of foodgrains in 2024-25, ranking first, with 35% of the wheat (first) and 14% of the rice (second), and leads the country in mango, potato, pea, sugarcane and milk. Our own count uses the latest official wheat estimates, for 2025-26, so the share differs from UPCAR's 2024-25 figure.

Uttar Pradesh produced 35.9 million tonnes of wheat in 2025-26 on the 3rd Advance Estimates, about 29.7% of the national crop and the largest of 17 reporting states.

That works out at 15.1 quintals an acre. It is an average across every grower; what one acre gives depends on variety, season, irrigation and soil.

Compiled by IndianAgri from Directorate of Economics & Statistics, Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India. Every figure on this page carries its originating department, its estimate round and the date we took it — see the full wheat series, six years deep, by state.

Scientist applications are marked out of 100, and 50 is the minimum to qualify. Publications carry only 15 of those marks:

Some details from the scorecard that are easy to miss:

• Publications are listed in two blocks of ten — the ten best at up to 1 mark each, the next ten at up to 0.5 — in descending order of NAAS score and impact factor, with the NAAS journal ID against each. Every co-author gets full marks for a paper.
• A product, variety or technology adopted on a large scale by farmers or clients scores 2 marks; one adopted by ICAR, CSIR or ICMR institutes or universities, or in multi-location trials, scores 1. Proof of adoption must be attached. In outstanding cases the committee may go higher; the document's own examples are the Swarna and Mahsuri rice varieties and the zero-till drill.
• Books count only with at least 150 pages and an ISBN, from a reputed publisher: 2 marks authored, 1 edited.
• External projects count only above ₹5 lakh: 2 marks as principal investigator, 1 as co-PI. Revenue earned for the institution scores 2 marks for ₹5–10 lakh and 5 above ₹10 lakh.

The Best Ph.D. Thesis Award has its own 100-mark card: course work 20 (15 if the Ph.D. was done without course work), thesis presentation 20, research achievements 20, publications 20 (up to 4 marks a paper), duration 10 (a three-year Ph.D. scores 10, four years 8, five years 6) and awards 10. Again, 50 qualifies.

The checklist, from UPCAR's general guidelines:

1. Fill in the prescribed format — one for the four scientist awards, a separate one for the thesis award — with a passport-size colour photograph.
2. Attach one set of supporting documents: testimonials, publications, proof of acceptance for papers in press, proof of adoption for technologies.
3. Get the certificate from the head of your institution (for the thesis award, from your supervisor) on the form itself.
4. Add a summary of contributions — about 750 words for scientists, 150 for the thesis award — with a photograph and a draft citation. Thesis applicants also send a copy of the thesis.
5. Swear an affidavit on ₹100 non-judicial stamp paper, attested by a notary, that the information is true and that no vigilance or disciplinary proceedings are pending.
6. Send five copies to the Director General, U.P. Council of Agricultural Research, Near Government Garden, Cariappa Road, Alambagh, Lucknow 226005, so that they arrive by 12 November 2026.
7. Send soft copies of the application, citation and photograph as well.

The document warns that incomplete applications, or ones not made as the guidelines say, "are likely not to be considered". The full guidelines and formats are also on UPCAR's website, upcar.up.gov.in.

The official documentBoth application formats and scorecardsPages 3–15 hold the scientist and thesis formats, their scorecards and the guidelines; pages 16–56 are the NAAS journal scores (effective 1 January 2026) you need for the publication columns.Get the formsPDF · 56 pages · 2.0 MB