This farm was originally started in 1905 by Sir Charles Alfred Barber at the behest of the Madras Government, based on the recommendation of the Famine Commission of 1880 of Government of India.
The farm meets the requirements of the farming community through production and distribution of rooted pepper cuttings, cashew grafts, grafts of mango, sapota, mangostene and nutmeg, seedlings of fruit crops and spices, seedlings of arecanut, paddy seeds, vegetable seeds, banana and tuber crops (such as ginger, turmeric and yam.