As a moment of celebration for Department of Agriculture Research (DARE) and Indian Council for Agriculture Research (ICAR), it has been successful as one of the first department in the country to obtain the certification by implementing the quality management system in the organisation as per the ISO 9001:2008 standards.

Dr S Ayyappan, secretary, DARE and director general, ICAR informed that the Bureau of Indian Standards has granted the Quality Management Systems Certification ISO 9001: 2008 to the ICAR headquarters and DARE on July 05, 2013. Mr S.K. Khanna, deputy director general, Bureau of Indian Standards, presented the certificate to Dr Ayyappan on July 16, 2013.

Acquiring ISO 9001:2008 certification is one of the performance monitoring indicators to be complied with by all Government Departments in the country as per the Result Framework Document (RFD) requirement by Performance Management Division, Cabinet Secretariat.

Implementation of ISO 9001 as per the approved action plan of RFD 2012-13 is the success indicator of mandatory objective under administrative reforms of all the Government Departments. It testifies the commitment towards assuring quality services to its customers with continual improvement of its delivery system.

As per the quality policy DARE and ICAR is committed to continual improvement for achieving excellence in agricultural research, education and frontline extension. This is achieved though systematic knowledge management, sense of ownership, responsive approach, human resource development, technological up-gradation, conducive work culture and implementation of effective Quality Management System ensuring compliance with applicable requirements.