Vincentian biotechnologist Rohan McDonald recently returned home from a two-week training mission to Grenada and St Lucia.{{more}}

According to a release from the Ministry of Agriculture, from December 19 to 31, 2013, McDonald was engaged in training his regional counterparts, as well as officers of the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI), in successfully weaning and hardening root and tuber crops tissue culture plantlets.

The release stated that these countries, as well as other OECS territories and Jamaica and Barbados, received plantlets of sweet potato, cassava and dasheen from St Vincent and the Grenadines. Some of the countries were having difficulty weaning and hardening cassava plantlets, and sought the assistance of this country.

The local tissue culture lab has been on the receiving end of funding and assistance from a number of agencies, including CARDI, and the CARICOM/Japan fund, for the micro-propagating of tuber and root crops.

McDonald said that the training sessions proved to be a success, and the Ministry of Agriculture is delighted that it could offer the assistance to its neighbours.(JJ)