Background
Tribhuvan University (TU) is the pioneer and leading national institution of higher education in Nepal; established in 1959 A.D. Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS) is an autonomous academic centre of Tribhuvan University for imparting education in disciplines: Agriculture, Animal sciences and Veterinary Sciences. Initially, the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS) began as a School of Agriculture under the Ministry of Agriculture in 1957 to train Junior Technical Assistants (JTAs) in agriculture. In 1968, the school was upgraded to College of Agriculture and a two- year Intermediate of Agricultural Science (I.Sc.Ag.) program was started. In 1972, the College of Agriculture was given the status of the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science under Tribhuvan University. Until that time, the institute did not have its own buildings and facilities and was operated at Jagdamba Bhawan at Pulchowk in Kathmandu. In 1974, the institute was relocated from Kathmandu to Rampur in Chitwan. Branch campus of IAAS was started at two locations: one at Sundarbazar, Lamjung, in 1975 and the other at Paklihawa, Rupandehi in 1978.
The mission of the institute is to promote agricultural science and to train manpower for agricultural development focusing on teaching, research and extension. The main objectives of the institute is to design and implement educational programs with appropriate balance between established and emerging needs in the agricultural sector; introduce innovative ways of teaching, research and technology dissemination; and promote research and studies catering to the needs of farmers in the country. The institute has proven its academic excellence through competent human resource development. IAAS has been making continuous and strenuous efforts to tackle issues of concern in agricultural education in Nepal since its inception. In the course of time, many of the programs started in the past have been modified and/or up-graded to attune the role in addressing the pressing needs and priorities of agricultural sector in the country. The current restructuring of syllabi is also bearing such contents as to enable skill development in operational aspect of agriculture and contribute to productivity.