Agro-Economic Research Centre, Shimla

After the initiation of the era of planned development in India, need was felt for carrying out studies for proper understanding of the changes occurring in the structure and functioning of village economy and other specific problems arising from time to time. With this background Agro-Economic Research Centers were established in various agro-climatic regions of the country. The Agro-Economic Research Centre (AERC) at the Himachal Pradesh University was established in December 1972 by the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India to carry out research and investigations in the field of Agricultural Economics in Western Himalayan Region consisting of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir. This is one of the 12 AER Centers established by the Government of India. 

How AER Centers Evolved?

The idea of an Applied Research Section in Agricultural Economics at the Delhi School of Economics was, for the first time, mooted by eminent economist Dr. V.K.R.V. Rao in a proposal to the then Ministry of Food & Agriculture, Government of India, on 24th October 1952. The Government of India approved, in principle, Dr. Rao’s scheme for setting up a research section in Agricultural Economics at the Delhi School of Economics and, simultaneously, decided to set up three more Centers at Santiniketan, Madras and Pune to cover eastern, southern and western regions respectively. The Agro-Economic Research Centre, Shimla is one of the 12 Centers established by the Agriculture Ministry in 1972. During its long journey of 35 years, the AER Centre has been fortunate to have received the guidance of some of the distinguished economists of the country. Some of the other leading academicians of the country who have been associated in a formal capacity as Chairperson of the Advisory Body or Advisory Committee include Professor R.K. Singh, Dr L.S. Negi, Dr G.C. Gupta, Professor L.P. Sinha, Professor K.C. Malhotra, Professor C.L. Kundu, Professor S.D. Sharma, Professor L.R. Verma, Dr Anil Wilson and presently Professor Sunil Kumar Gupta.