The Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI), Kasaragod, has its origin from the Coconut Research Station established in 1916 in the erstwhile Madras Presidency, and later developed as the Central Coconut Research Station in 1946 under the Indian Central Coconut Committee. Subsequently, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) established CPCRI in 1970 by merging the Central Coconut Research Stations at Kasaragod and Kayangulam, Central Arecanut Research Station at Vittal and its five substations at Palode (Kerala), Kannara (Kerala), Hirehalli (Karnataka), Mohit Nagar (West Bengal) and Kahikuchi (Assam). The research centres of CPCRI for spices, cashew, oil palm and coastal agriculture were upgraded to independent institutes and directorates since 1986.
At present, CPCRI focuses on research in coconut, arecanut and cocoa. The headquarters of the institute is situated at Kasaragod, Kerala and the two regional stations are at Kayamkulam (Kerala) and Vittal (Karnataka). There are three research centres under the institute viz., Mohit Nagar (West Bengal), Kahikuchi (Assam) and Kidu (Karnataka). The All India Co-ordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Palms with its nation-wide network of 15 centres working on coconut, four on arecanut, eight on oil palm and two on palmyrah is also functioning from here.