Biotechnology Center Re-established in Liberia

The Central Agricultural Research Institute (CARI) in Suakoko District, Bong County in the northern central Liberia, has re-established a biotechnology center at the institute as part of its operation to make Liberia self-sufficient in food production. The center was re-established to utilize biological processes to purely modify living organisms for specific uses at CARI and the country at large.

According to Mr. David Koffa, Research Assistant and head of the center, the process of re-establishing the biotechnology center at CARI started in 2010 after the West and Central Africa Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF) willingly invited CARI to participate in a regional cassava project to build its institution capacity in the country.

"For now, we are not carrying out most of the activities as a result of lack of a proper laboratory. We are currently doing mass production of cassava planting materials, using rapid multiplication techniques." said Mr. Koffa.

Accordingly, CARI is presently multiplying sixteen yellow root cassava varieties that were brought from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in the Federal Republic of Nigeria while there is a multiplication of twenty-three sweet potato varieties from the United States of America as well.

To read the full article, go to http://tnrliberia.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2945:biotechnology-department-enhances-cari-activities-pushes-agricultural-activities-forward&catid=43:inside-liberia-&Itemid=132.