2. Groundbreaking of Evans Plant Growth Facility--Australian Message of Solidarity: Cecilia Honrado
Channel: International Rice Research Institute
Date: 2015-01-27

See: http://irri.org/news/media-releases/irri-breaks-ground-for-australia-funded-plant-growth-facility

On the occasion of the groundbreaking ceremony for the Lloyd T. Evans Plant Growth Facility on 27 January 2015, Ms. Cecilia O. Honrado, country manager, Philippines, Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR; http://aciar.gov.au), gives a message of solidarity between the Australian Government and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI; http://irri.org).

To be built on the IRRI campus in Los Banos, Philippines, the facility will be a state-of-the-art building that will serve as a key international resource and venue for biotechnological research and genetic diversity conservation. Eight controlled-environment glasshouses, controlled-environment plant growth chambers, plant processing and potting laboratories, and a large seed processing and storage facility will dominate the complex. Once operational, the facility will enable the nurture and study of plants, particularly rice, in wide-ranging environments, controlling for temperature, relative humidity, light intensity, photoperiod systems, water management systems, and the precise control of atmospheric gases.

The facility is being constructed with the support of the Government of Australia through the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).