Chaudary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University (HAU)

Renamed in 1991 in honour of India’s seventh Prime Minister, Chaudhary Charan Singh, CCS Haryana Agricultural University had its roots in national politics and the creation of the new state of Haryana in 1966.

Among the consequences was a division of the recently-established Punjab University of Agriculture, its main campus within the borders of Haryana, uniting with faculties of basic, animal and veterinary science to create Haryana Agricultural University in 1970.

It retains the 3,000 hectare campus – much of it farmland – that it inherited in the city of Hisar, but in 2015 added another college at Biwal and maintains a network of agricultural science, knowledge and regional research centres across the state. Schools of Home Science (1973) and Agricultural Engineering and Technology (1987) have been added on the main campus.

A survey in 2016 found that it ranked 4th in publications and 6th for citations among India’s agricultural universities over the previous 15 years, while the same year saw it was awarded the prestigious Sardar Patel prize by the Indian Council for Agricultural Research.

Flagship enterprises include the Saina Nehwal Institute for Agricultural Technology, Training and Education, named after India’s formerly no 1 world-ranked badminton player, whose father teaches at the university. It provides outreach programmes in home sciences, horticulture and plant protection.

The school of home science aims to "empower women at personal, professional, social, entrepreneurial and economic fronts through teaching, research and extension". Courses offered include cutting and tailoring, soft toy making and varieties of fabric design. An Agricultural Business Incubation Centre was created in 2018.