- About Potato Research Institute Shimla
- Contact Institute
Potato research in India formally began on April 1, 1935 with the opening of a Potato Breeding Station at Shimla and two seed production farms at Bhowali(Kumaon hills, UP) and Kufri (Shimla hills, HP) as a part of the Indian(then Imperial) Agricultural Research Institute, Delhi. In 1945, a scheme for establishment of a Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI) was drawn up under the guidance of the then Agricultural Advisor to the Govt. of India, Sir Herbert Steward. Dr S Ramanujam, who was then working as an Economist Botanist at IARI was appointed as an Officer on Special Duty for implementing the scheme in 1946. It took more than three years for the scheme to attain concrete shape in the form of the Central Potato Research Institute at Patna in August, 1949. The Government of Bihar provided a 10 ha piece of land with an old single storey barrack-type building.
Three small units under the IARI looking after potato, namely Potato Breeding Station at Shimla, Seed Certification Station at Kufri and Potato Multiplication Station at Bhowali were merged with the newly-created Central Potato Research Institute and Dr. S. Ramanujam took over as the first Director. The headquarters was shifted from Patna to Shimla in 1956 because the hills were the only source of disease free seed and the ideal location for hybridisation . All potato genotypes flower under long days of the hills and, therefore, more genotypes could be used for breeding new varieties.
Contact Us:
Central Potato Research Institute
(Indian Council of Agricultural Research)
Shimla-171001, HP, INDIA
Gram-POTATOSEARCH, Shimla
Fax: 91-177-2624460, Phone: 91-177-2625182, 2625073
E-mail: dircpri@sancharnet.in
Central Potato Research Institute
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