Central Island Agricultural Research Institute ICAR, Port Blair

About Central Island Agricultural Research Institute ICAR, Port Blair

Realizing the importance of agriculture in the Islands for better livelihoods, Indian Council of Agricultural Research has established the Central Agricultural Research Institute CARI at Port Blair on 23rd June 1978 by merging the regional stations of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute IARI, Indian Veterinary Research Institute IVRI, Central Plantation Crops Research Institute CPCR and Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute CMFRI. In 2017, it was christened as Central Island Agricultural Research Institute CIARI with extended mandate of addressing the researchable issues of Island ecosystems of Lakshadweep in Arabian Sea along with Andaman and Nicobar Islands in Bay of Bengal. Since inception, CIARI has been addressing the researchable issues for furthering the cause of sustainable farming in the islands which is predominantly covered with plantation based systems. Presently, the research work is organized under five divisions, viz., Horticulture and Forestry, Field Crops Improvement and Protection, Natural Resource Management, Animal Science, and Fishery Science along with a section on Social Science at Port Blair.

The institute has made tremendous progress in the agriculture development of the islands during the last three decades. Keeping in view the natural resources of the islands diversity, fragile ecosystem, research program would be designed to maximize the productivity without disturbing to the islands ecosystem to provide better and decent livelihood and as a source of revenue and resource generation. Research and development in agriculture sector should cover all disciplines in order to have a balanced progress in all disciplines for the overall benefits of the farmers of these islands.

The major mandate of the institute is to provide a research base to improve the productivity of important agriculture, horticulture, livestock and fishery sector of A & N Islands through adoptive, basic and strategic research. While earlier focus was to attain self sufficiency for island, the situation has changed in recent years. Due to the impact of the climate change and changing scenario of the agriculture practices, focus will now be to make self sufficiency by enhancing the productivity without disturbing the fragile ecosystem.