The present campus of the Institute is a self-contained sylvan complex spread over an area of about 500 hectares (approx. 1250 acres). It is located about 8 km (5 miles) west of New Delhi Railway Station and about 16 km (10 miles) east of Indira Gandhi International Airport at Palam. The location stands at 28.08⁰N and 77.12⁰E, the height above mean sea level being 228.61 metres (750 feet). It is adjacent to hill side road. The climate is sub-temperate and semi-arid. The mean maximum daily temperature during the hot weather (May-October) ranges from 32.2⁰C to 40⁰C and the mean minimum temperature from 12.2⁰C to 27.5⁰C. June to September is rainy months during which about 500 mm of rainfall is received. Winter sets in from mid-November and is delightful. The mean maximum temperature during winter (November-March) ranges from 20.1⁰C to 29.1⁰C and the mean minimum temperature from 5.6⁰C to 12.7⁰C. During winter, a small amount of rainfall (about 63 mm) is received. The Institute has 20 divisions 5 multi-disciplinary centres situated in Delhi, 8 regional stations, 2 off-season nurseries, 3 All India coordinated research projects with headquarters at IARI and 10 national centres functioning under the all India coordinated research projects. It has a sanctioned staff strength of 3540 comprising scientific, technical, administrative and supporting personnel.

 

In 1939, the concept of Regional Stations emerged to tackle regional problems. The Institute established Regional Stations at Pusa (Bihar), Sirsa and Karnal (Haryana), Shimla and Katrain (Himachal Pradesh), Bhowali (Uttaranchal), Wellington (Tamil Nadu), Indore (Madhya Pradesh), Kalimpong (West Bengal) and Pune (Maharashtra). Initially, the centres at Kanpur and Hyderabad were PIRRCOM stations which were subsequently given the status of Regional Stations. These stations conducted basic and strategic research on a wide range of subjects including horticultural technology, wheat and barley breeding, virus research, seed technology, pulse research, etc. The mandate of Regional Stations is to provide the much needed support in the form of materials, technology or off-season nurseries to scientists all over the country. Two stations located at Aduthurai (Tamil Nadu) and Dharwad (Karnataka) serve as off-season nurseries. The Regional Station at Flowerdale, Shimla of IARI, which was created as a national facility to support wheat breeding programme against rusts, was transferred to the Directorate of Wheat Research at Karnal. Similarly, the IARI Regional Stations at Kanpur, Sirsa and Bhowali were handed over to Indian Institute of Pulses Research, Central Institute of Cotton Research and Vivekananda Parvatiya Krishi Anusandhanshala, respectively, for research on pulses, cotton and wheat. Growth of Divisions The original five sections established during the British era later developed into Divisions in the year 1945. A more extensive growth of IARI and its Divisions started following the Independence. Now, the research activities are carried out through 19 Divisions. Thus, it is the growth of Divisions which has made IARI one of the largest institutions of its kind not only in India but also in the world. Growth of specialized laboratories Along with the general Divisional Laboratory facilities, the Institute takes pride in having developed sophisticated specialized laboratories in all the fields of agricultural sciences. Realizing the need for interdisciplinary and advanced research, the Institute expanded its infrastructure by creating the following facilities: The Nuclear Research Laboratory, a multi-disciplinary unit was established in 1969, Water Technology Centre was established in 1970 for research and training on integrated management of water, soil and crop, including engineering for water management, National Plant Biotechnology Centre in the country was established in 1985. It is equipped with highly sophisticated equipment for working in the areas of molecular biology, recombinant DNA, cloning and sequencing of genes and genomes, tissue culture, plant transformation and somatic hybridization. In 1988, the Institute created an Advanced Centre for Plant Virology in the Division of Plant Pathology for generating basic knowledge on economically important plant viruses and virus like pathogens. The Centre has well equipped laboratories for work on electron microscopy, production of monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies, cloning of viral genomics, sequencing, disease diagnosis and plant transformations. The institute has also acquired Scanning Electron microscopes. The Institute realized the importance of diversity of biological forms and their importance in maintaining the ecological balance right from the inception of the Institute when it established Herbarium Cryptogamae Indiae Orientalis (HCIO) and a National Pusa Insect Collection in 1905. Later on, an Indian Type Culture Collection of Fungi (1936), a National Collection of Nematodes and a National Rhizobial Collection (1986) were also established. These collections are National wealth and show windows of the Institute. The Institute has also developed a National Facility for Conservation and Utilization of Blue Green Algae and Azolla. In addition to these collections, IARI has also a large germplasm collection of food, fodder, vegetable and fruit crops. The Institute established a National Phytotron Facility in 1997. This is the first facility of its kind in the country to study the live responses of plants under controlled conditions and the possible impact of climate change and greenhouse gases. The Seed Testing Laboratory of the Institute has got the status of CSTL under the Ministry of Agriculture and serves as a Referral Laboratory for all the 96 seed testing labs located in different parts of the country. Regular training programs for the personnel of the State Seed Testing Labs are being organized. The Institute also developed a big complex providing state of the art facility for protected horticulture under Indo-Israeli collaboration in the year 1998. This facility is extremely useful for students and scientists of horticulture and provides a model for efficient agriculture. A centre was established for research on climate resilient agriculture (CESCRA) with objectives of addressing the current concerns of climate change in agriculture taking into account the changes in Environmental Sciences components relevant to agriculture.