Sardar Patel Outstanding ICAR Institution Award for 2021 has been given to the ICAR-Indian Institute of Spices Research in Kozhikode. Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, gave the award to C. K. Thankamani, Director of the Institute, in New Delhi.
Based on the institute’s performance during the previous five years, this prize was granted. It includes a plaque, a citation, and a monetary prize of Rs. 10 lakh.
Factors on which institutes given honour
This honour is given to institutes based on a number of factors, including the significance of the output or result of research activities, the quantity and calibre of research publications, the licencing or commercialization of technologies, the creation of infrastructure, and capacity-building initiatives. The IISR has already been given this honour three times.
The prize, according to Thankamani, “is a timely acknowledgement for the institute’s hard work and focused efforts in inventing many cutting-edge technologies for advancing spice farming and solving the true difficulties faced by the spice farming community.”
The Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Antyodaya Krishi Puruskar was given to young Kozhikode farmer Bindu Joseph. The prize recognises the contributions of landless, small, and marginal farmers to the creation of integrated agricultural farming systems.
About ICAR- Indian Institute of Spices Research
The Indian Institute of Spices Research (IISR), Kozhikode (Calicut), is a major Institute devoted to spice research and is a constituent body of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). It began as a Regional Station of the Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI), Kasaragod, engaged in spice research in 1976.
In 1986, the former Regional Station of CPCRI in Kozhikode and the Cardamom Research Centre in Appangala, Karnataka merged to form the National Research Centre for Spices, with headquarters in Kozhikode, Kerala. Recognizing the significance of spice research in India, the Research Centre was renamed Indian Institute of Spices Research on July 1, 1995.
