About Central Potato Research Institute
Potato research in India formally began on 1st April, 1935 with the opening of three breeding and seed production stations at Shimla, Kufri (both Shimla hills) and Bhowali (Kumaon hills), under the Imperial Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. In 1945, a scheme for the establishment of Central Potato Research Institute was drawn up under the guidance of the then Agriculture Advisor to the Government of India, Sir Herbert Steward and Sir Pheroz M. Kharegat, Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture. Dr. B. P. Pal, Dr. S. Ramanujam, Dr. Pushkarnath, and Dr. R.S. Vasudeva participated in the formulation of the scheme and in establishment of the institute. Dr. S. Ramanujam, who was then working as Second Economic Botanist at IARI, was appointed as an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) for implementing the scheme in 1946.