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ICAR-CENTRAL ISLAND AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE INDIAN
COUNCIL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE
ABOUT ICAR-CENTRAL ISLAND AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE
ICAR-Central Island Agricultural Research Institute (CIARI)
formerly Central Agricultural Research Institute (CARI) The Central
Agricultural Research Institute (CARI), an ICAR unit for A & N
Islands was established on 23rd June 1978 by merging different
Regional Research Stations of the ICAR Institutes viz., Central
Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Indian Veterinary Research
Institute, Indian Agricultural Research Institute and Central
Plantation Crops Research Institute. CARI caters to the specific
needs of agricultural research and development of the Union
Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It was entrusted with the
task of developing technologies for enhancing the productivity and
production of crops, livestock and fishery through adoptive and
basic research to bridge the gap between requirement and the local
production. The institute is unique in ICAR system which is engaged
in multidisciplinary research, benefiting island ecosystem. It has
several accomplishments during the last thirty five years of its
service despite various insurmountable constraints. The research
activities are carried out under five divisions viz., Natural
Resource Management, Horticulture & Forestry, Field Crops,
Fisheries Science, Animal Science and one Social Science Section.
The Institute has its main campus located at Garacharma farm and is
spread over 62 ha of land wherein research work related to field
crops, horticulture, animal sciences and fresh water fisheries are
being carried out. In addition, it has three Krishi Vigyan Kendras
located one each at Sippighat, Car Nicobar and Nimbudera covering
all the three districts of the Island, besides an Out Reach Centre
supported by NABARD at Diglipur, North Andaman. With the
accumulated experience and expertise in Island agriculture, it is
envisioned to make a major stride in coming years towards our
cherished goal of emerging as the Institute of Excellence on
Tropical Island Agriculture in the Asian countries. Accordingly,
the Institute in this year of XII five year plan, has been re-named
as ICAR- Central Island Agricultural Research Institute (CIARI) and
it is high time we capitalize on our own research foundation and
the cumulative strength as a member of NARS to be a model for
tropical Island agriculture research to the South East Asian
countries in short term and entire world, in long term.
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Our primary focus for the 12th plan is to enhance productivity
through characterization and conservation of Island genetic
resources, development of genetically superior varieties/breeds,
systems approach in Island farming, development of climate
resilient agricultural technologies suitable for the
agro-ecological conditions of these Islands and effective
management of post-harvest losses. The effective transfer of
technologies would help to achieve self sufficiency in major food
items, particularly the perishable commodities and to ensure
nutritional and livelihood security to the Island
farmers/fishers/farm women especially the tribal farmers of the
Nicobar group of Islands. For socioeconomic amelioration of the
tribal communities and the farm women it is envisioned to provide
livelihood opportunity through sustainable technological
intervention and capacity building under Tribal and NEH Plan. In
order to utilize the financial resources optimally and in the light
of the fact that CIARI is the only ICAR Research Institute in this
region, it is planned to strengthen the state of the art
centralized research facilities for conducting research on impact
of climate change, bio-prospecting of Island genetic resources,
post harvest and pre-harvest, animal and fish health, research on
soil, water and tissue culture research. Integrated Agriculture
System for Tropical Island is being taken up as the flagship
programme of this Institute to enhance the adaptive capacity of the
Island farmers and fishers in order to build disaster and climate
resilient Islands through frontier research. The integrated
approach will be promoted by developing location-specific farming
system models, including the wealth of the vast coastal and marine
resources in the Islands, which can serve as unique models for
Tropical Island ecosystems. The geographical location of Island
confers freedom from various diseases, insect, pest, however, the
unrestricted entry of unwanted bio-organisms pose a continual
threat to the crop- animal-fish component of the Islands. In order
to protect the precious flora and faunal diversity of the Islands,
it is envisioned to develop facilities for Composite Bio-security
and Quarantine Facility in the XII Plan. MANDATE
To provide a research base to improve the productivity of
important agri-horticulture, livestock and fisheries sector of A
& N islands through adaptive and basic research for attaining
economic self sufficiency To develop appropriate plans for
conservation of natural resources and their sustainable use To
standardize technologies for animal health coverage and livestock
production To standardize techniques for capture and culture
fisheries including coastal aquaculture First line transfer of
technology and training to the relevant state departments
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VISION Sustainable development in agri-horticulture, livestock
and fisheries sector in the changing climatic scenario to ensure
decent livelihood in the fragile island ecosystem MISSION To
provide decent livelihood to farm youth from agriculture in a
fragile Island ecosystem on sustainable basis.
FOCUS The Island economy has undergone a sea change in recent
past. From forest based and Government job based economy, it is
shifting to tourism based economy. This shift requires a rethink on
research programmes to meet the emerging challenges of inclusive
growth and sustainable economy. With this in view, following focus
has been envisaged for CIARI. Development of suitable technological
innovations for enhancing rice production and efficient processing
to meet Individual Island level requirement in view of the
forthcoming Food Security Act. Reorientation of agricultural
production system to meet the demand of perishable products, viz.
milk, egg, meat, fish, fruits,vegetables and flowers with specific
reference to demand of booming tourism industry. Suitable
processing and value addition technologies for organic farming
system to market with a decoratively packaged Andaman brand organic
farm products. Development of suitable production to consumption
level chain involving SHGs and retailers / armed forces /
processors. Conservation and bio-prospecting of biodiversity
richness of the Islands. Appropriate rain water management
technology to create micro level water resources to increase
irrigated area from present 3 % to a significant level. Linking
CIARI with other educational institutions for creating local level
skilled human resources in field of agriculture and allied
sciences. Making CIARI a model for NARS of small island Nations and
collaborating with them with special reference to post disaster
restoration of agriculture.
THRUST AREAS FOR XII PLAN Broad research programmes for the XII
Plan are as under:
Characterization and bioprospecting of natural Island
bio-resources Climate proofing Island agriculture for improving
productivity Development of harvest - post-harvest management
practices and value addition Policy support research for
agriculture development in the Islands
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Beside three other programmes are: Flagship programme on
integrated agriculture system for tropical Island Establishment of
Composite bio-security & quarantine facility Tribal Sub
Plan
ORGANISATIONAL SETUP Administration of the institute rests with
the Director, who receives support from both research divisions and
administration. The Research Advisory Committee (RAC), Institute
Management Committee (IMC) and Institute Research Council (IRC)
reviews and monitor the research programmes and facilitates to
identify new research thrust areas for the Institute. To accomplish
the mandate, the research activities are organized under five
divisions namely, Natural Resource Management, Horticulture &
Forestry, Field Crops, Fisheries Science, Animal Science and one
section i.e. Social Science.
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About Divisions and Sections
NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT The Division of Natural Resource
Management has been engaged in development of sustainable resource
management strategies or technologies in Andaman & Nicobar
Islands. The division was originally formed in 1984 as Division of
crop production, soil conservation and water management (CSW) with
a view to address the issues concerning crop production, soil and
water. Later a separate division of agricultural engineering and
post harvest technology was created. On the recommendation of QRT
and other experts division of agricultural engineering and post
harvest technology was merged with Division of CSW and
agro-forestry was included and thus the Division of Natural
Resource Management was formed in 1999. So far the main focus of
the division was to develop appropriate plans for conservation of
natural resources and their sustainable use; and to improve the
productivity and profitability of the agri-horticultural system
relevant in the island by developing appropriate agro techniques,
post harvest technology and value addition. Though agricultural
land is limited in supply productivity of crop and land can be
increased with the help of green technologies suitable for the
socio-economic milieu of the island farmers. Hence sustainable
management of natural resources is vital for agricultural
development with positive growth and long term sustainability. In
recent times we are confronted with land degradation of different
types and magnitude, ground water imbalances, impaired soil health
and low productivity of the farming system. Under such
circumstances, to address to the need of these islands the Division
of NRM has reoriented and set the thrust areas as follows: Research
on improving farm productivity and efficient resource utilization
through integrated farming systems approach. Assessment and
management of post harvest losses in rice, pulses, black pepper,
clove, cinnamon and their value addition Assessment of climate
change and agricultural vulnerability of A&N Islands for
developing climate resilient resource conserving technologies
HORTICULTURE AND FORESTRY The Horticulture & Forestry
Division of CARI, Port Blair was created along with inception of
CARI, Port Blair in 1983 to look after the research activities on
horticultural and agro-forestry crops for developing this sector as
sustainable source of livelihood as enshrined in the institute
mandate. Thrust area
Conservation and utilization of island horticulture biodiversity
for development of island specific high yielding varieties Bio
prospecting of potential horticultural crops for food and health
uses. Development of production practices for climate change
resilient island horticulture Training to local human resource in
horticultural for entrepreneurship development Provide policy
inputs to local administration for development of island
horticulture
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FIELD CROP The Division of Field Crops, CIARI, Port Blair has
been working on basic, strategic and applied aspects of crop
improvement and protection for Andaman & Nicobar Island
conditions. It encompasses genetic improvement primarily of rice,
pulses, oilseeds, maize etc. for the island conditions. The
research efforts also focussed on basic understanding and
management of plant biotic stresses including diseases and insect
pests. Biodiversity collection, conservation and characterization
mainly of native germplasm of field crops, potential
micro-organisms and insect flora of agricultural importance have
been other priorities. Division of Field Crops came into being in
2003 with the amalgamation of erstwhile Divisions/ Sections of Crop
Improvement, Plant Pathology and Entomology. The systematic crop
improvement efforts mainly in rice and pulses were started around
1986. Since then extensive collection, evaluation and development
of rice germplasm were carried out under different national and
international programs. About 20 rice land races initially
introduced by settlers from various origins which got subsequently
adapted under island conditions have been collected and
characterized using biochemical and molecular markers. The initial
breeding efforts also aimed at introduction and evaluating early
and medium duration rice varieties. The rice varietal trials were
conducted for screening for tolerance to coastal salinity, acidity,
aluminium toxicity, iron toxicity, low phosphorus condition etc.
Several promising lines and donors were selected from evaluation
trials and formed the basis of the rice breeding program. The
combining ability analysis through line X tester studies identified
good parents for hybridization. A new species of wild rice Oryza
inandamanica Ellis sp. Nov. perceived to have higher drought
tolerance was reported from Rutland of South Andaman. Significant
to mention, lot of work on tissue culture, somaclonal variation and
Agrobacterium mediated transformation was carried out for rice
improvement. As a result of these sustained over several years,
five varieties of rice CARI Dhan -1, CARI Dhan -2, CARI Dhan -3,
CARI Dhan-4 and CARI Dhan -5 were developed and released by CIARI,
for general cultivation in the islands in 2009. Of these CARI DHAN
-1, CARI DHAN -2 and CARI DHAN -3 are exotic introductions through
IRRI, Philippines which have been recommended for cultivation in
normal soils. On the other hand, CARI DHAN -4 and CARI DHAN -5 are
derived from somaclonal variants of Pokkali and have been
recommended for cultivation in coastal saline-acidic soils. The
pulse improvement program was started in 1986 with the evaluation
of germplasm of mung bean, urd bean etc. The mutation breeding
approach was employed for improvement of green gram. Crosses were
also made to understand the combining ability of mung bean
germplasm. Several promising lines of mung bean and urd bean were
evaluated and subsequently sent for All India Co-ordinated Pulse
trials. The diseases and insect-pests of various agricultural,
horticultural and forest trees of Andaman and Nicobar Islands were
surveyed and catalogued. The biology of bacterial wilt of
solanaceous vegetables has been studied and suitable management
strategies recommended. The production technology including spawn
production for oyster and milky mushrooms has been developed and
demonstrated through training programs.
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Among pests, salient achievements were made for the management
of snails, rice stem borer, tomato fruit borer and rhinoceros
beetle through baculovirus. Similarly extensive surveys were
carried out to record and document the populations of fruit fly of
fruits and cucurbits, insects of mangroves and butterflies in the
Andaman and Nicobar islands. The Hindi version of Butterflies book
Andaman ki Titliyaan has also been bestowed upon ICAR Award on
Technical book on Hindi. Thrust area
Genetic Resources Varietal Improvement Disease and Pest
Management Agricultural Biotechnology
ANIMAL SCIENCE The CIARI was established on 23.06.1978 by
amalgamating the regional research centres of various ICAR
institutes. The division of Animal Science was established after
amalgamating the regional centre of IVRI. Later as per QRT
recommendations, division were designated as research section. The
mandate for animal science is To provide a research base for
improving the productivity of livestock and its products for self
sufficiency in the islands. To standardise technologies for animal
health coverage and livestock production system. To fulfil the
mandates various projects were undertaken in the division to fulfil
the mandate. Efforts were undertaken to develop infrastructural
facilities for the research work. The major emphasis was laid down
on problem-based work in close collaboration with the development
departments of these Islands.
Thrust area
Characterization and conservation of indigenous livestock and
poultry germplasm of Bay Islands Identification and evaluation of
non conventional energy sources Augmentation of feed & fodder
resources Study on nutritional requirements of indigenous
germplasms viz. Nicobari fowl, Teressa goat and Nicobari Pig to
improve their performance. Development and establishment of disease
diagnosis, surveillance and monitoring facilities. Immunological
and molecular investigations on disease resistance in indigenous
pig, goat & poultry Screening of indigenous medicinal plants
for better health and productivity of livestock. Post harvest
technology and value addition of livestock and poultry produce
Promotion of concept of contract farming based on pig, goat,
poultry and fodder production. Diversification of poultry
propagation of alternate poultry farming
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FISHERIES SCIENCE Over past three decades Fisheries Science
Division has its focus on addressing the issues related to
aquaculture, capture fisheries resources and impact of climate
change on coastal bio-resources. During the first decade (1978-88),
the primary focus was on cataloguing the fisheries resources and
understanding the fisheries potential of the islands, which could
be attributed to the origin of the division from CMFRI.
Subsequently, in the next decade (1988-98), comprehensive efforts
were taken to study the aquaculture potential freshwater and
mariculture by experimenting and improvising the different fish
culture methods from the mainland based on the island conditions.
During the third decade (1998-2008), significant efforts were
undertaken for costal bio-resource characterization with special
reference to climate change. The main focus of the fourth decade
ever since the inception of the institute, has been on
consolidation of the research efforts on aquaculture, resource
management, biodiversity characterization and utilization by using
high-end space and molecular tools. The division has its
headquarters at Garacharma main campus, a full-fledged research
laboratory at Marine hill campus to carry out biodiversity/resource
management studies and mariculture activities and a brackish water
fish farm complex at Sippighat and freshwater complex at Bloomsdale
farm. The division has developed technologies that has addressed
the welfare of fishermen community and fish farmers of Andaman and
Nicobar Islands. The divisional scientists share a great rapport in
research and extension activities with Andaman Administration,
Krishi Vigyan Kendra to validate/demonstrate the technologies. The
division has collaborated with many external funding / research
agencies like DBT, SAC, INCOIS, ILS, ISRO-RRC etc to carry out
research with specific needs of the islands. The division has a
sanctioned strength of 7 scientists, five of them with Fisheries
Resource Management specialization; one each with aquaculture and
fish processing specialization. At present, two scientists with
specialization in Fisheries Resource Management (FRM) are working
on broadly three major research areas viz., Coastal bio-resource
management, aquaculture and capture fisheries with the aim to
improve the productivity of Island fisheries. Thrust area
With objective to provide a research base to improve the
productivity of fisheries sector of ANI through adaptive and basic
research for attaining self sufficiency, the thrust areas addressed
are Coastal Bio-resource Management Aquaculture Capture
fisheries
SOCIAL SCIENCE Realizing the importance of islands agriculture
to provide better livelihood support with integrated approach for
the people of these remote islands, CIARI has been entrusted with
the objectives of making these islands self sufficient in food
production and providing the decent livelihood to the population in
general and youth in particular.
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With the change in macro-economic conditions and requirements of
agricultural commodities, the paradigm of agricultural production
has changed. The aspirations of farm youth have also heightened due
to enhanced connectivity and more exposure to outer world. Keeping
the challenges ahead, the Institute has identified the thrust areas
to work upon and Social Science section has been given one of the
important themes Transfer of Technology and Socio-economic impact
analysis. From the very beginning, the section has been playing
important role of bridge between various divisions of CIARI and the
farmers of the islands. Before taking up any technological
interventions, the study of social profile of clients/ stakeholders
is very much essential so as to make the technology economically
feasible and socially acceptable. Socio economic variables also
play an important role in further adoption of the technology and
its expansion. The job is primarily entrusted to the Social Science
section. For its further refinement, the feedback from field trials
is also collected and synthesised by the section and given to
biological scientists. Finally the technology is assessed and
necessary inputs for refinement are collected, synthesised and
given back to biological scientists. Technology development is not
the end of job for the researcher until it spread vertically and
horizontally among the stakeholders. Therefore social scientists
come in to the picture by carrying out its impact assessment. Since
the establishment of the institute in the year 1978 all the ToT
programmes were mandated through only one section i.e., Agriculture
Economics, Extension and Sociology (AEES) which, later on was
christened finally to Social Science. Over the years, the efforts
in the direction of imparting need based trainings and other
capacity building programme through the social science section have
been extended through collaborative approach. Through its efforts,
CIARI have laid landmarks in livelihood improvement of Tsunami
affected small and marginal farmers. For the effective
implementation of the ToT programms in the field adopting group
approach this section has been instrumental in running full fledged
programs viz. Village adoption program, IVLP, TARP in South Andaman
District and for the last two years a ToT program dedicated for
North and Middle Andaman District is running in the name of Out
Reach Centre supported by NABARD. Over here 1200 farmers have been
trained in agriculture and allied fields, a total of 173
demonstrations covering 37.36 ha and Seed Village Concept of Rice
was introduced in participatory mode. Dhal Mill, Vermicompost unit,
Piggery, Goatry, Duckery, Fresh water Fish seed production ,
Earthworm production are selected interventions for livelihood
support of the stakeholders. For the holistic implementation of the
agricultural and rural development programmes, this section has
functional links with the State Development Departments like
Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services, Fisheries,
Rural Development, Health services, Social Welfare Advisory Board,
Nationalized Banks, NABARD, PRIs and the NGOs Thrust area
Socio economic analysis and policy issues Impact studies on the
technologies developed and their adoption. Studies on agricultural
marketing and development linkages.
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Technology assessment, refinement and dissemination. Capacity
building of the stakeholders in agriculture and allied fields
through customized and vocational trainings Consultancy in
agriculture and allied fields Advisory services, ATIC, KCC
activities and coordination in Institute programmes.
HINDI CELL For the successful implementation of the official
language policy and the target fixed in the annual programme,
efforts were made for doing maximum work in official language. PME
CELL The PME works as nodal point for prioritization, monitoring
and evaluation of the projects of the institute. Besides, it has
facilitated the conduct of IRC from 28 th to 30 th June and 11 th
July, 2012 in the presence of four eminent Scientist Dr. S.D.
Tripathi, Former Director, CIFA & CIFE, Mumbai (as an Expert in
the Fisheries), Dr. C.L. Acharya, Former Director Extension
Education (HPAU, Palampur) & Indian Institute of Soil
Science(ICAR),Bhopal (as an Expert in Soil Science), Dr. R.K.
Singh, Ex-Director (Research), NDUAT, Faizabad (as an Expert in the
Field Crops) and Dr. W.S. Dhillon, Director,Punjab Horticultural
Post Harvest Technology Centre, PAU Campus, Ludhiana (as an Expert
in Post Harvest & IFS) with an objective to give first hand
information and orientation to the fellow scientist on the field
experiments conducted. Fifty two ongoing projects and nine new
projects totalling to sixty one were presented by the Scientists
ITMU CELL Institute Technology Management Unit is an integral unit
of IARI involved in protection, management and commercialization of
innovative technologies and overarch the global need. It acts as an
interface between R & D, knowledge revolution and stakeholders.
The diversity of task performed by ITMU include IPR management,
technology licensing, developing public-private partnership,
organising Industry-Institute meet to expand and establish good
economic-ties. ITMU also manages the project "XIth Plan ICAR Scheme
on Intellectual Management and Transfer/Commercialization of
Agricultural Technologies" under ICAR. SUB-DIC Bioinformatics
Centre of CIARI serves as an active site for bioinformatics
research (mainly documentation of island biodiversity) and
development in the remote union territory of Andaman and Nicobar
Islands, India. It provides computational support and training to
the scientists and students & also offers traineeships and
studentships to deserving bioinformatics students. The databases on
butterfly, horticultural biodiversity, coral & sponges were
developed using ASP.Net and MS SQL, which provides information on
all bioresources available in the island. This database is
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user friendly and provides all the information about butterflies
to the end user like researcher, academician and development
departments. ARIS CELL ARIS cell is equipped with FTDMA VSAT
through which the internet has been distributed to all important
sections and officers, individual computer systems with color and
black and white printing and scanning facilities, electronics
gadgets, digital facility related to information documentation and
dissemination.
ABOUT LIBRARY CIARI library plays an important role in this
island as a center for knowledge and information related to the
institutes mandate. It serves to fulfill the need of the
scientists, research workers, students from local research and
educational institutes of these island and mainland. Library has
the facilities for on and off line information retrieval,
networking and other accessories. During the span of three decades,
the Library has grown in size to earn the reputation of having
exhaustive collection of books and journals. The existing
collection of books has extensive collection of resource materials
in the fields of Horticulture, Field Crops, Natural Resource
Management, Animal Sciences, Biotechnology, Fisheries Science,
Social Science and many other related areas which are regularly
enriched by adding more current, important scientific and technical
books, journal through subscription gifts and on exchange basis.
The library has been enriched with 6141 books, 2520 miscellaneous
publications in addition to journals by subscription, gratis, on
exchange basis and technical books. During the report year the
library procured 514 books which included 188 in Hindi and 331 in
English. A total of 78 Indian and 8 foreign journals were
subscribed during the year. Gratis publications such as Annual
Report, Newsletter and Research Bulletin received from India and
Foreign Institutes as exchange relationship is also maintained.
Internet services via VSAT connection are also available for easy
access to this information. Special collection of island related
books, Hindi books along with reprographic facility is also
available. Besides, efforts have been made to acquire
non-conventional literatures such as technical reports, reports on
socio-economic study and annual reports from various sources to be
kept as a ready reckoner for the users. Department Office Address
Phone No & Fax E-mail Id ICAR-CENTRAL ISLAND AGRICULTURAL
RESEARCH INSTITUTE
The Director Central Island Agricultural Research Institute,
Post Box No.: 181, Port Blair-744101, Andaman & Nicobar
Islands
03192- 250341 (O) 03192- 250436 (O) 03192- 251068 (F) 8348001000
[email protected] [email protected]
Website of department: http://cari.res.in