Agriculture Secretary William Dar led the inauguration of the Tissue Culture Laboratory and National Mushroom Culture Laboratory and Training Facility on January 28, 2021 at the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) in Malate, Manila.
The ceremony highlighted the 91st Founding Anniversary of the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) with the theme: “A resilient plant industry proactively responding to the challenges of the new normal”.
The facilities were funded by the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR) to support their research and development activities.
The Tissue Culture Laboratory, which runs on a solar-powered panel system, supports the conservation and regeneration of various crops. It serves as an in-vitro gene bank to ensure the production of clean, quality, and disease-free planting materials of different high-value crops through rapid multiplication for the benefit of different stakeholders.
Meanwhile, the Mushroom Culture Laboratory, which also has a training facility, was established to ensure the production of high-quality mushroom cultures and planting spawns. # # # (Text by Kristel Merle & photos by Alarico Nuetro, DA-AFID)
