History
The All India Coordinated Spices and Cashewnut Improvement Project (AICS & CIP) was started during the IV Five Year Plan in 1971 with its headquarters located at the Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, Kasaragod. During the VII Plan, the ongoing project (AICS & CIP) was bifurcated into two separate projects, one on Cashew and another on Spices. The headquarters of the independent All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Cashew was shifted to the newly established National Research Centre for Cashew (NRCC), Puttur in 1986. The NRCC was upgraded to Directorate of Cashew Research, Puttur in 2009.
The AICRP on Cashew has presently fourteen centres, of which four Centres were started at the inception of AICS & CIP in the year 1971 [Bapatla (Dr. YSHRU the then APAU); Madakkathara (KAU, shifted from Anakkayam); Vengurla (BSKKV the then KKV) and Vridhachalam (TNAU)]. During the V Plan, one centre at Bhubaneswar (OUAT) (1975) and in the VI Plan, two centres, one at Jhargram (BCKVV) and another at Chintamani (UAS) (1980) (shifted to Hogalagere [UHSB]) were added. During VIII Plan, one centre at Jagdalpur (IGAU) (1993) and a sub centre at Pilicode (KAU) were also started. During the XI Plan in 2009, two centres started functioning, one at Paria (NAU) and the other at Darisai (BAU) along with three cooperating centres at Arabhavi (UHSB), Barapani and Goa under ICAR Institutes. These centres of AICRP on Cashew are located in 12 cashew-growing states of the country and are under the administrative control of different State Agricultural Universities.