CPCRI New website url.
https://cpcri.gov.in
The Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI) https://cpcri.gov.in/page is a central

research institute A research institute, research centre, or research organization is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often implies natural ...

for

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

crops A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. In other words, a crop is a plant or plant product that is grown for a specific purpose such as food, fibre, or fuel. When plants of the same species a ...

, headquartered in

Kasargod Kasaragod () is a municipal town and the administrative headquarters of the Kasaragod district in the state of Kerala, India. Established in 1966, Kasaragod was the first municipal town in the district. It is the northernmost district of Ker ...

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

in India. It was established in 1970 as one of the

agricultural research Agricultural science (or agriscience for short) is a broad multidisciplinary field of biology that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture. Professiona ...

institutes in the National Agricultural Research System (NARS) under the

Indian Council of Agricultural Research The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is an autonomous body responsible for co-ordinating agricultural education and research in India. It reports to the Department of Agricultural Research and Education, Ministry of Agriculture. Th ...

(ICAR),

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

. The Institute has the mandate to undertake research on coconut,

areca nut The areca nut ( or ) or betel nut () is the fruit of the areca palm (''Areca catechu''). The palm is originally native to the Philippines, but was carried widely through the tropics by the Austronesian migrations and trade since at least 15 ...

palmyra Palmyra ( ; Palmyrene dialect, Palmyrene: (), romanized: ''Tadmor''; ) is an ancient city in central Syria. It is located in the eastern part of the Levant, and archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first menti ...

, and

cocoa Cocoa may refer to: Chocolate * Chocolate * ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree * Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao'' * Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter and ...

History

The institute was established in 1916 as Coconut Research Station at

, and was later taken over by the

(ICAR). Central Plantation Crops Research Institute was established by ICAR in 1970 by merging Central Coconut Research Station at Kasaragod and

Kayamkulam Kayamkulam () is a municipality in the Alappuzha district of Kerala, India. It is located south of the district headquarters in Alappuzha and about north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. As per the 2011 Indian census, Kayamkulam has ...

, along with Central Arecanut Research Station,

Vittal Vittal may refer to: * Vithoba, Hindu deity occasionally also known as Vittal Geography * Vittal (town), town in Karnataka, India ** Vittal Assembly constituency, former constituency of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly People * Chilumula Vitt ...

and its five substations at

Palode Palode is a town in Thiruvananthapuram district in the Indian state of Kerala. Palode town is from Thiruvananthapuram, Thiruvananthapuram city and from Nedumangad municipality. Thenmala Dam is from Palode, and the Ponmudi hills are 35 km. ...

(

), Kannara (Kerala), Hirehalli (

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

), Mohitnagar (

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

) and Kahikuchi (

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

). All India Co-ordinated Coconut and Arecanut Improvement Project (AICCAIP) started functioning from 1972 at CPCRI, Kasaragod and later renamed as All India Coordinated Research Project on Palms (AICRP) in 1986. The AICRP has 14 centres on coconut, four on oil palm and one on palmyra.

Research

Initially mandated to conduct research on coconut,

, cocoa, cashew,

oil palm ''Elaeis'' () is a genus of palms, called oil palms, containing two species, native to Africa and the Americas. They are used in commercial agriculture in the production of palm oil. Description Mature palms are single-stemmed, and can gro ...

, and spices, the institute later separated research on cashew, oil palm, and spices to establish independent institutes. In 2023, the CPCRI expanded its mandate to include

palmyra palm ''Borassus'' (palmyra palm) is a genus of five species of fan palms, native to tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Papua New Guinea. Description These massive palms can grow up to high and have robust trunks with distinct leaf scars; in so ...

. The institute's research programs are structured into five divisions: *Crop Improvement *Crop Production *Crop Protection *Physiology *Biochemistry *Post Harvest Technology *Social Sciences. Additionally, it oversees the International Coconut Gene Bank for South Asia situated at Kidu in

. Serving as the headquarters of the All India Co-ordinated Research Project (AICRP) on palms, it manages 28 centers spread across 14 states and one union territory, encompassing 13 SAUs/SHUs, one CAU, and four ICAR institutes. There are two regional stations at

(Kerala) and

(Karnataka). There are four research centres at Mohitnagar (West Bengal), Kahikuchi (Assam), and Kidu (Karnataka). Besides, there are two

Krishi Vigyan Kendra A Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK; ) is an agricultural extension center in India. The centres are associated with a local agricultural university, and serve as links between the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and farmers to apply agricultural r ...

(KVKs) in Kasaragod and Kayamkulum.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Education in Kasaragod 1916 establishments in India Buildings and structures in Kasaragod district Indian Council of Agricultural Research Research institutes in Kerala Agriculture in Kerala