By Loretta B Manele

The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAL) is focused on efforts to building a new research station.

Franklyn Wasi, minister for MAL spoke about the above when he contributed to the Sine Die Motion in parliament on Dec 19 last year.

He said his ministry through the World Bank (WB) funded project, Solomon Islands Rural Transformation is now refocusing its efforts on rebuilding the Tenaru field experiment station to become the new research station for the ministry and the country.

Wasi expressed that he is pleased to announce that MAL has been collaborating very closely with Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

He added that they are expecting some new funding support from the Australian government to assist with their efforts towards strengthening the research capacity of the ministry among other areas.

On top of that, Wasi said they are also collaborating with People’s Republic of China (PRC), China’s Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences to establish a fully-fledged agriculture research centre for the country and possible sites.

He mentioned that areas to host the research centre include SINU’s land at Aruligo, Tenaru field experiment station, a former commercial rise site at Metapona and a land at Makira Ulawa province.

Wasi furthered that the ministry is still negotiating with these parties and hope to have a land lease agreement in place early this year.

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