The All India Coordinated Research Project on Vegetable crops was started during the fourth five-year plan in 1970-71, to provide a national network for multi-location testing of vegetable technologies developed by various research institutes and state agricultural universities (SAUs). The headquarter of the project was at the Division of Vegetable Science, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (ICAR-IARI), New Delhi and the first Project Coordinator (Vegetable Crops) joined the project in July 1971. During 1986, the project was elevated to the status of Project Directorate on Vegetable Research (PDVR). Further, in a significant development during 1991, headquarter of the directorate was shifted from IARI, New Delhi to Varanasi. Later on, the PDVR was elevated to the Indian Institute of Vegetable Research (ICAR-IIVR) in 1999. AICRP (VC) also continued to operate from the HQ of the ICAR-IIVR.
Presently, the project has 36 regular centres (10 ICAR based, and 26 SAUs based centres) located in different agro-climatic zones of the country. Besides these, 26 centres involving central institutes, state agricultural and traditional universities and a few other public research organizations are participating in the coordinated research programme of the project on a voluntary basis.
A separate National Seed Project (NSP) on Vegetables was approved and initiated by ICAR-IIVR (erstwhile PDVR), Varanasi during 1994. Under this programme, ICAR has set up 4 units at ICAR Research Institutes and 10 units in the State Agricultural Universities for breeder’s seed production of vegetable crops. Since the work of NSP (Veg) involves the production of breeder’s seed as well as research on seed related aspects in vegetables, and its centres are also located in the ICAR institutes/SAUs where the AICRP (VC) work is going on, it has been merged with AICRP (VC) during the XI Plan.
During XII Five Year Plan (2012-17), upgraded six ICAR based centres viz., ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Barapani; ICAR Research Complex for Eastern Region Ranchi; VPKAS, Almora; ICAR Research Complex for Goa; CARI, Portblair; and CIAH, Bikaner and opened a one new SASRD, Nagaland centre in NEH Region as regular centres.
.
| Centres |
Initiated in plan |
Year |
| Main centres |
| Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi |
IV Plan |
1971 |
| IARI Regional Vegetable Research Station, Katrain,
Kullu, Himachal Pradesh |
IV Plan |
1971 |
| Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bangalore,Karnataka |
IV Plan |
1971 |
| Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab |
IV Plan |
1971 |
| Rajendra Agricultural University, Sabour, Bihar |
IV Plan |
1971 |
| Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri , Maharashtra |
IV Plan |
1971 |
| Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu |
IV Plan |
1971 |
| Sub Centres |
|
| Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand |
IV Plan |
1971 |
| Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture & Technology, Kanpur, U.P. |
IV Plan |
1971 |
| Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, Assam |
IV Plan |
1971 |
| Odisha University of Agriculture & Technology, Bhubaneshwar, Odisha |
IV Plan |
1971 |
| Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur, M.P. |
IV Plan |
1971 |
| Department of Horticulture, Jammu & Kashmir, Srinagar, J&K |
IV Plan |
1971 |
| Y.S. Parmar Agriculture University, Solan, H.P. |
IV Plan |
1971 |
| Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University, Lam, Guntur, A.P. |
IV Plan |
1971 |
| Rajasthan Agricultural University, Durgapura, Jaipur, Rajasthan |
IV Plan |
1971 |
| Tamil Nadu Agriculture University, Kovilpatti, T.N. (During VII Plan centre was dropped) |
IV Plan |
1971 |
| Addition of participatory centres in subsequent phase of AICRP development |
| Bidhan Chandra Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Kalyani, W.B |
V Plan |
1974 |
| Marathwarda Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Ambajogai, M.S. |
V Plan |
1974 |
| Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana |
V Plan |
1974 |
| Narendra Dev University of Agric. and Tech., Faizabad, U.P. |
VI Plan |
1980 |
| Kerala Agricultural University, Vellanikkara,Kerala |
VI Plan |
1980 |
| Indian Institute of Vegetable Research)- (Head Quater) |
VII Plan |
1985 |
| Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University, Hyderabad, A.P. |
VII Plan |
1985 |
| Gujarat Agricultural University, Junagadh, Gujarat |
VII Plan |
1985 |
| University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, Karnataka |
VIII Plan |
1992 |
| Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur, C.G. |
VIII Plan |
1992 |
| IARI (Reg. Station), Karnal (After the merger of AICVIP with NSP) |
XI Plan |
2008 |
| CAU, Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh |
XI Plan |
2008 |
| Rajendra Agricultural University, Samastipur, Bihar |
XI Plan |
2008 |