Students visit Plant Tissue Culture Lab at Orange Hill

Students and teachers from the Richland Park Government School and the Bequia Anglican Primary School now have a better understanding of Tissue Culture.{{more}}

On June 11, seventy students and teachers visited the Plant Tissue Culture Lab at Orange Hill, which is run by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Taiwan Technical Mission.

According to Tony Hou, a specialist in charge of the Lab, the lab produces plantlets in a pathogen-free environment. In St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), the main goal of the Lab is to produce high-quality banana and taro plantlets for farmers.

Prior to 2000, banana plantlets were imported from Israel at a cost of between US 50 cents to $1 each. Since the establishment of the lab, enough banana plantlets are produced not only to satisfy domestic demand but also to export plantlets to neighboring countries, such as Barbados.

Traditionally, “Agriculture” was viewed as “sweat, hard work in the field and low reward,” Hou pointed out. Nevertheless, modern agriculture is a totally different story, he said.

Hou told the students that modern agriculture needs technology and knowledge input, while at the same time, its reward is high. He also advised the students that in SVG, the agricultural sector needs the young generation to pay more attention to it.

In 2009, the Orange Hill Farm has been playing an active role in enabling students to get a better understanding of agriculture. In May, more than 300 students visited the Farm.