This facility will be supported by devices and a management system that meets good agricultural practices and biosafety (norms)
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) said it is building a national integrated tropical biodiversity greenhouse comprising display, research, and production facilities at Cibinong Science Center (CSC) in Bogor District, West Java.

"This facility will be supported by devices and a management system that meets good agricultural practices and biosafety (norms)," BRIN scientific collection infrastructure coordinator Ishak Siregar said here on Friday.

Greenhouses are built to support the preservation and propagation of plant germ plasm and facilitate tech development related to agricultural science, forestry, and the environment, he pointed out.

The CSC greenhouse will play a role in introducing Indonesia's biodiversity and expanding knowledge of strategic biology among the community, Siregar said.

The greenhouse, which is being built at a cost of around Rp200 billion and funded by State Sharia Securities (SBSN), will have specific facilities for biodiversity collection and display, he added.

The facilities will support research on phenotypes, tropical biodiversity ecosystems, bioprospecting, and utilization of genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, morphology, and phenomics studies, he informed.

The greenhouse's display area will span about one hectare and it will exhibit plants based on ecoregions, such as Papuan, Sumatran, Javanese, and Kalimantan archipelagic plants, Siregar said.

Work on the greenhouse display, with its dome concept and design of steel and anti-break glass, began in September 2021 and is expected to be completed in December 2022, he added.

Furthermore, the display area will consist of a single 50-m diameter main greenhouse unit and five small greenhouse units of 20-m diameter each, he disclosed. Each of the domes will have unique thematic displays, he said.

Meanwhile, the greenhouse's research and production building will include 17 greenhouses for collection, plant breeding, and testing of GMO, diseases, insects, ecology, agronomy, aeroponics, and hydroponics, he added.

It will also be equipped with a growth chamber, seed bank, sewage treatment facility, waterproof-roof screen house, preparation room, and showroom, Siregar said.

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Translator: Martha S, Kenzu T
Editor: Sri Haryati
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