International Potato Centre:
The Union Cabinet has approved a proposal from the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare to establish the International Potato Centre (CIP)’s South Asia Regional Centre (CSARC) at Agra, Uttar Pradesh.
- International Potato Centre was founded in 1971 as a research-for-development organization with a focus on potato, sweet potato and Andean roots and tubers.
- It delivers innovative science-based solutions to enhance access to affordable nutritious food, foster inclusive sustainable business and employment growth, and drive the climate resilience of root and tuber agri-food systems.
- CIP is a CGIAR research center, a global research partnership for a food-secure future. CGIAR science is dedicated to transforming food, land and water systems in a climate crisis.
- Its research is carried out by 13 CGIAR Centers/Alliances in close collaboration with hundreds of partners, including national and regional research institutes, civil society organizations, academia, development organizations and the private sector.
- Headquarter: It is in Lima, Peru and it has a research presence in more than 20 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
- The India centre will not only serve domestic farmers, but those in other South Asian countries as well.
- India is the world’s second top producer and consumer of potato
- Major potato growing States: Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab.
