Proposal on ICAR institutes opposed

The proposed merger of three central institutes of Indian Council for Agriculture Research (ICAR) has evoked strong protests from scientists and political leaders in Tamil Nadu.

An expert committee headed by T. Ramasami, former secretary of Department of Science and Technology, had recommended that the Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture (CIBA) in Chennai be merged with the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) in Kochi, and Sugarcane Breeding Institute (SBI) in Coimbatore be made a sub-centre of the Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research in Lucknow.

Likewise, the National Research Centre for Banana (NRCB) in Tiruchi may be merged with the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR) in Bengaluru.

Proposal unjustified

DMK working president M.K. Stalin said the merger proposals were unjustified and would deprive Tamil Nadu of institutes of national and international repute in Chennai, Coimbatore and Tiruchi.

“The reorganisation will greatly jeopardise the aquaculture and research development in the State and affect a large number of employees,” Mr. Stalin said in a letter to Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh.

He urged the Minister to intervene and prevent any effort to merge the institutes with institutes in other States.

MDMK general secretary Vaiko was the first to condemn the plan to merge these research institutes.

Meanwhile, scientists of the Sugarcane Breeding Institute (SBI) in Coimbatore explained the justification for retaining the institution, saying that the sugarcane varieties developed by them occupied 99% of the sugarcane cultivation area in the country.

They said the ‘Co 0238’ variety developed by the institute had helped Uttar Pradesh overtake Maharashtra in the production of sugarcane.

“The present move to merge this 105-year-old globally renowned instituted with the Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research in Lucknow will lead to the loss of a distinct identity,” said the Agricultural Research Service Scientists’ Forum, Coimbatore, in a statement.