4 minutes of readingBombayFebruary 6, 2026 21:29 IST
Admissions to agricultural and allied courses in Maharashtra have seen a significant rise in the academic year 2025-26, even as the number of institutes offering these programs has declined, pointing to closures largely among private universities.
Data from the Maharashtra Common Entrance Test shows that 13,897 candidates confirmed their admission to agricultural and allied courses in 2025-26, up from 11,670 in 2023-24. However, the number of institutes offering these courses has reduced to 198 this year, from 207 in 2024-25 and 201 in 2023-24.
Agricultural education experts said inadequate admissions over a long period had led to the closure of several institutes, most of them privately run. “The recent growth in admission shows improvement in the last three years. But it is important to note that traditional courses like Bachelor of Agriculture and Bachelor of Horticulture continue to attract more students than various allied new-age courses like Bachelor of Agriculture Technology, Bachelor of Food Technology and Bachelor of Agribusiness Management, which became popular over a decade ago, leading to a rise in the number of such private institutes offering such courses,” said a senior official from one of the four agricultural universities in Maharastra.
The four state agricultural universities are Mahatma Phule Krushi Vidyapeeth at Rahuri (MPKV), Punjabrao Deshmukh Krushi Vidyapeeth at Akola (PDKV), Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krushi Vidyapeeth at Parbhani and Dr. Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krushi Vidyapeeth at Dapoli (DBSKKV). While these universities manage their own constituent colleges, they also have affiliated colleges managed by private administrations.
According to CET Cell data, MPKV has the highest admission capacity and has recorded more than 96 per cent admissions. However, PDKV has become the university with the highest admission rate. While three of the four universities have shown steady growth in admissions over the past three years, DBSKKV has seen a decline in the same period and has recorded the lowest admission rate in the current academic year.
A Dapoli-based DBSKKV official said: “Ours is a smaller university compared to the other three, so the admission is low anyway.
But even so, the places remain vacant and student demand is low.”
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Explaining the reasons, the official said, “The location of the university is in a rural area, unlike other universities which have their colleges in nearby cities. A student interested in agriculture would prefer such colleges. Also, the districts covered by the BDSKKV are Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri, Raigad, Thane, Palghar, Bombay etc and very few students from these regions have the desire to pursue a career in agriculture.”
According to CET Cell data, five DBSKKV-affiliated institutes have closed compared to last year.
A senior faculty member at an agricultural university said changes in career preferences were also influencing enrollment trends. “Now that most government recruitment processes are on hold, students are finding more job-oriented courses such as engineering and pharmacy, which they can pursue with similar scores in the MHT CET entrance exam, which determines admissions to all these courses, including agriculture,” the official said.
In response, CET Cell has initiated outreach programs to raise awareness about university agriculture courses, while universities have launched initiatives such as school connect programs. “These initiatives help universities connect with students from grades 9 to 12 and educate them in agricultural courses as well as further career opportunities. These initiatives have resulted in a slight improvement in the number of admissions recorded this year, compared to the last two years,” said a university official.
