The Innovative Tissue Culture Laboratory for Ornamental Plants (iLAB), a joint project between the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Regional Office 3 and the local government of Guiguinto, Bulacan, will become fully operational by the fourth quarter of this year, Science Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña said in his recent DOST Report.
The establishment of the tissue culture laboratory called iLAB Garden City Project in Barangay Sta. Cruz in Guiguinto aims to supplement and provide technical assistance to farmers in the production and propagation of ornamental plants.
De la Peña early this month visited the site where the laboratory was being constructed.
Related story: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/05/19/guiguinto-aims-to-become-garden-capital-of-phl/
Once the laboratory is fully operational, 32 Hibiscus hybrids, commonly known as gumamela, developed by the Institute of Plant Breeding of the University of the Philippines Los Baños, will be made available to the growers to propagate them on their own.
It is also planned to get the assistance of the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute to transfer nonconventional plant breeding technologies for the project.
The construction of the iLAB Garden City building was funded by the municipality of Guiguinto under Mayor Ambrocio C. Cruz Jr.
DOST-3, on the other hand, is funding the laboratory equipment and materials, salaries of laboratory personnel, technical training and grow-out facility of propagated ornamental explants under its Regional Grants-in-Aid program, which initially allocated P2.79 million for the project.
The ornamental plant growers in Guiguinto currently employ conventional farm practices, such as cutting, marcotting and grafting, which have high mortality rates of transplants, besides not being applicable for propagating some ornamental plant species.
The establishment of the tissue culture laboratory will be more beneficial to the growers for its many advantages.
These include quickly generating identical mature offspring of one plant with desirable traits, a highly desirable feature especially in the commercial large-scale production of plants.
It can also produce multiple plants even without seeds or pollinators to produce seeds; produce plants from seeds or stems that may otherwise have low chances of growing; produce novel hybrids and genetically modified plants with improved agronomic traits; and produce plants with greatly reduced chances of transmitting diseases, pests and pathogens.