Genesis
Cotton is truly a miracle crop. It is cool, soft, comfortable and the principal clothing fibre of the world for an array of textile products including the clothes we wear. It also provide oil for human consumption, feed for livestock, biomass for particle board, corrugated box, paper etc. and is a base for a plethora of industrial products.
After independence, the erstwhile Indian Central Cotton Committee, used to sponsor cotton research schemes on an adhoc basis until it was taken over by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in 1966. Research efforts under All India Coordinated Cotton Improvement Project (AICCIP) was initiated by the ICAR in the year 1967. The AICCIP gave new fillip and direction in terms of multi-disciplinary and multi-centre approaches with the active involvement of State Agriculture Universities. The project contributed significantly in terms of varietal improvement and development of appropriate production and protection for location specific agro-technologies for tackling location-specific problems. The AICCIP was rechristened AICRP on Cotton in the 2014.
With a view to develop a Centre of excellence for carrying out research on fundamental problems limiting cotton production and also to provide basic support to location specific applied research work being carried out through the AICCIP system, the ICAR has established the ICAR-Central Institute for Cotton Research at Nagpur in April, 1976. The erstwhile Regional Station of IARI at Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) became a part of ICAR-CICR simultaneously to cater to the needs of southern cotton zone. In the year 1985, the IARI Regional Station at Sirsa (Haryana) was also transferred to ICAR-CICR as a Regional Station for the northern irrigated cotton zone.
Vision
India emerging as a global leader in cotton production and productivity through leadership in science and technology
Mission
To accelerate growth in national cotton productivity and minimizing agro-eco regional yield gaps through modern science and technologies by developing/providing technologies, products and services to different stakeholders (farmers, textile and processing industries, input agencies and other R&D organizations)