About Us

The Central Tuber Crops Research Institute (CTCRI) a constituent Institute under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is the only research organization in the World dedicated solely to the research on tropical tuber crops. The Institute established in 1963 with its Headquarters at Thiruvananthapuram (= Trivandrum), Kerala has grown over the years into a premier research organization of international repute. The Headquarters of CTCRI is located at Sreekariyam 12 km away from Airport and 10 km from Railway Station/and Bus Terminal of Trivandrum, the capital city of Kerala State and has an area of 48.19 ha. The Institute has a Regional Centre at Bhubaneswar, Orissa established in 1976 with an area of 20 ha located 8 km from Airport and 7 km from Railway Station; this cater to the needs of Eastern India. There has been a phenomenal increase in the budget and manpower over the years and the Institute's outlay for the XI Plan is Rs.1774 lakhs (Plan) and Rs. 5667.56 lakhs (Non-Plan). The staff strength during XI Plan is 195 (Scientific 50, Technical 47, Administrative 31 and Supporting 67). The All India Co-ordinated Research Project on Tuber Crops (AICRP) was started at CTCRI in 1968, as a vehicle for the testing and popularisation of tuber crop technologies and this project has developed location specific recommendations; 17 centres located in 12 State Agricultural Universities 4 ICAR institutes and 1 Central Agricultural University. This Project has a staff strength of 53 which includes 23 Scientists and operates a budget of Rs.772.12 lakhs during the XI Plan.

The Regional Centre of the Institute at Bhubaneswar is concentrating research on sweet potato and aroids catering to the needs of the Eastern and North Eastern Regions of the country: It also functions as a Phytosanitary Centre for screening of germplasm received from abroad. At present 12 Institutional and 1 externally aided projects dealing with the vital issues related to improvement, production, protection and utilization of tropical tuber crops and also to fulfill the socio-economic commitments of the farming community are in operation at the Regional Centre.

In order to sustain tuber crops in the Indian agricultural system and to protect the social security of the resource-poor farmers who depend on the cultivation of tuber crops, several vital issues related to production and utilization aspects of tuber crops have been attended. Realising the challenges ahead and the social commitments towards the farming community, CTCRI under the aegis of ICAR has developed many production and processing technologies for tuber crops.

The Institute Scientists have won national and international recognition in the past comprising the J.J. Chinoy Gold Medal (1970), three ICAR Team Research Awards (1985, 1994 and 1998), D.L. Plucknett Award for Tropical Root Crops (1991), Hari Om Trust Award (1993), Jawaharlal Nehru Awards (1975, 1995,1998, 2000 & 2004) young scientist award by Deseeya Sasthra Vedi (1996) and NRDC reward for biodegradable plastics, Pat Coursey Award (2000 & 2006) for best research paper on yams, Vasantharao Naik, Memorial Gold Medal (2002) for Best paper at National Agricultural Seminar. Best Annual Report Award (1997-98) of ICAR, Sardhar Patel Outstanding Institution Award (2005), VITAA Award of ISTRC (2006) etc.