Cuban Biotechnology Institute contributes to food sovereignty

SANTA CLARA, Cuba, July 1 (ACN) Contributing to the country's food sovereignty and nutritional education program is among the main goals of the Plant Biotechnology Institute (IBP) in the central province of Villa Clara.

Liz Mery Martinez Montero, a commercial specialist with the institution, told the Cuban News Agency that they have a variety of innovative commercial products, including a complete embryogenesis sequence for banana and coffee, C-35 citrus fruits, and the MD-2 pineapple, which can be seen in vitro and ex vitro.

The MD-2 pineapple is characterized by a large, sweet, and thornless fruit from the Isla municipality, Vera Cruz state, Mexico. The IBP selects, cultivates, and multiplies it for Mexico and Cuba, she stated.

She commented that they are working on potato microtubers, a plan that covers five municipalities and includes the use of in vitro plants to produce seeds in cultivation houses and their subsequent multiplication in fields using agroecological practices.

The strategy focuses on research projects that, from their inception, anticipate short-, medium-, or long-term results and immediately deliver these protocols to farmers and commercial tissue culture laboratories, the expert added.

The IBP of the Marta Abreu de Las Villas Central University, part of the Ministry of Higher Education of the Republic of Cuba, was founded on October 19, 1992, and its mission is to conducting relevant scientific and technological activities and continuously improving human resources in the Plant Biotechnology field.