Government to receive keys for Tissue Culture Laboratory this afternoon

The Government of St Vincent and the Grenadines will, this afternoon, receive, among other things, keys to the newly constructed Tissue Culture Laboratory located at Orange Hill.{{more}}

At 2:00 this afternoon, an official Handing Over Ceremony of the proceeds of a recently completed project, dubbed “Increased Production of Root and Tuber Crops in the Caribbean through the Introduction of Improved Production and Marketing Technologies”, will take place at the site in Orange Hill.

The project, which came at a cost of US$500,000, focused on three main areas, namely: the production and distribution of high quality planting materials of root and tuber crops; new technological innovations in root and tuber crops; increasing fresh and value-added products from root and tuber crops.

Coming out of the project, the following were achieved: the construction of a new Tissue Culture Laboratory at Orange Hill, complemented with upgraded and refurbished plant propagation and hardening facilities at the Perseverance Agricultural Station. Capacity of Lab is 600,000 plants per year; the upgrading of five Farine Processing Facilities, taking into consideration the sanitary expectations associated with Good Manufacturing Practices; the introduction of new varieties of Sweet Potato, which were validated using an integrated crop management approach. A number of farmers and technical officers were trained in the discipline.

The project, which was executed in 5 other Caribbean countries, came at a total cost of US$ 3.1 mil; it was funded by the European Union, and coordinated by the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI).

Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves will receive the keys from Dr Arlington Chesney, Executive Director of CARDI, at this afternoon’s ceremony.