Mangaluru: Congress has requested the central government to not to close the the Research Centre and International Coconut Gene Bank for South Asia of the Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI) at Kidu near Kukke Subrahmanya.

On Wednesday, Chamarajanagar MLA Rangaswamy Dhruvanarayana and former minister B Ramanath Rai met the Union minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Radha Mohan Singh at New Delhi and submitted a request in this connection.

Congress has requested that the recommendation of the inspection committee be withdrawn and the gene centre which has international significance be retained. The request has the signatures of former union minister Veerappa Moily and Tumkur MP S P Muddahanumegowda.

Even before this, Ramanath Rai had met with senior Congress leaders MP Mallikarjuna Kharge and M Veerappa Moily and highlighted to them the seriousness of the Kidu farm and requested for the support to fight against the closure of the Kidu farm.