Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will inaugurate the newly built integrated biotechnology block and the microbial technology block at the College of Agriculture, Vellayani, on Monday.
Apart from opening the Centre for Microbial Technology and Microbial Inoculants Production Unit, Mr. Chandy will also release the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) accreditation certificate for the pesticide residue analytical laboratory at a function on the college campus. Minister for Agriculture K.P. Mohanan will preside over the function.
The new blocks will aid further learning and experimentation for students pursing M.Sc. (Integrated) Biotechnology course at the college. The five-year course was started in the college in 2009 as per the directions of the State government with the aim of improving the quality of biotechnology education. The course had started with 20 students in a batch and an amount of Rs.1.90 crore was provided as a one-time grant for the initiation of the course. The course is offered and coordinated by Kerala Agricultural University using a core facility with the active involvement of five institutions dealing with biotechnology, according to a press release.
