The Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangham has appealed to the District Collector not to shift the sugarcane breeding institute from Coimbatore.

In a petition to the Collector, T.N. Hariharan, the association members said the decision to shift the institute from Coimbatore would affect the cane growers badly. “The institute was successful here because of the favourable climatic conditions prevailing here,” they said.

The shifting of the century-old institute that has developed more than 300 varieties of the crop is condemnable. The Government should initiate steps so that the institute remains here only, they added.