The new buildings of the CIRAD plant protection center, in Saint-Pierre, were inaugurated on November 22 by Frédérique Vidal, Minister of Higher Education, in the presence of local elected officials and Elisabeth Claverie de Saint Martin, President and CEO of the French organization for agricultural research and international cooperation for development. Launched in October 2019, financed by the Réunion Region, L'Atat, Ademe and European funds, the project made it possible to create 3,200 m2 of new infrastructure and rehabilitate 800 m2 of existing buildings. The PPP brings together in the same place, at Ligne Paradis, stakeholders in public and private research in plant health. Three new wings and an extension reinforce this technological platform with new equipment, reinforced laboratory spaces and reception capacity. The new buildings cover four main themes : terrestrial ecology, with a laboratory specializing in agro-ecological protection techniques against insect pests of crops, molecular biology, genetic resources and a common space allowing the production of liquid nitrogen and biological media, centralized storage of chemical reagents, etc. A 200 m2 conference room completes the project. It will accommodate up to 140 people, making it possible to organize large-scale conferences and seminars in the South.
