Peru-based top potato research centre to set up India wing
The centre will serve farmers not only in potato-belt states of India such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal but also in other South Asian countries.
3 min read
According to sources, officials from both sides — India and Peru — have concluded the negotiations and a formal agreement will be signed after approval from the Union Cabinet. (File photo)SEVEN YEARS after China got a regional centre of Peru-based International Potato Center (CIP), the premier research-for-development organisation with focus on potato and sweetpotato, India is set to get a similar centre. The CIP-South Asia Regional Centre (CIP-SARC) is expected to come up in Agra.
The centre will serve farmers not only in potato-belt states of India such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal but also in other South Asian countries.
The Indian Express has learnt that the proposal to establish the CIP-SARC is on the 100-day agenda of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, which is being prepared for the new government to be sworn in after June 4.
According to sources, officials from both sides — India and Peru — have concluded the negotiations and a formal agreement will be signed after approval from the Union Cabinet.
The Agriculture Ministry is learnt to have forwarded the proposal to set up the CIP-SARC to the Committee on Establishment Expenditure (CEE) headed by the Expenditure Secretary. After the CEE’s clearance, the proposal will go to the Cabinet for final approval.
The project is expected to cost $20 million (about Rs 160 crore), of which India will contribute $13 million (Rs 108 crore) and the rest will be funded by the CIP, sources said. The Uttar Pradesh government will be providing 10 hectares for the proposed centre.
According to officials, the CIP-SARC will focus on development of new varieties of potato and sweetpotato, which are climate resilient, disease-free and suitable for processing. It will offer global science expertise, an extensive global innovation network and global genetic resources, they said.
In 2017, the CIP, which is headquartered in Lima, set up its first Asia centre in China, the world’s top potato producer and consumer. The China Center for Asia Pacific (CCCAP) in Yanqing, Beijing serves the entire East Asia and the Pacific region.
The proposed CIP-SARC will be the second major international agricultural research institute in India. In 2017, the Agriculture Ministry supported the establishment of a regional centre of the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Varanasi.
“The CIP-SARC is proposed to be developed on the pattern of IRRI-SARC, which was established in 2017 with the support of the Agriculture Ministry,” said a source.
Currently, two centres of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) work on tuber crops in India. While the Shimla-based ICAR-CPRI (Central Potato Research Institute) is working on potato, Thiruvananthapuram-based ICAR-CTCRI (Central Tuber Crops Research Institute) is working on sweetpotato.
India is the second-largest potato producer and consumer in the world after China. In 2020, China’s potato production was 78.24 million tonnes, while India’s was 51.30 million tonnes. Both countries accounted for over one-third of the global potato production (359.07 million tonnes).
Uttar Pradesh (15 million tonnes), West Bengal (15 million tonnes) and Bihar (9 million tonnes) were the top three potato producers in 2020-21. Other states with significant potato production are Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab.
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