The Plant Protection Platform is expanding

Institutional news 14 September 2020

Work to extend the Réunion Plant Protection Platform began this year. With almost 3000 m², this will make the experimental facility, run by CIRAD and its partners, one of the organization's largest research infrastructures. The work is due to be completed by 2022.

The Plant Protection Platform at CIRAD in Réunion is expanding, to become the organization's largest infrastructure © R. Carayol
© R. Carayol

Réunion will confirm its scientific excellence in the field of plant health and biodiversity with the extension of the Plant Protection Platform (3P). The work will give this multi-partner infrastructure more than 3000 m² of brand new or refurbished laboratories, including a biotechnology hall, a conference room with a capacity of up to 140 people, and office space. "More than ever, this facility is international in scale",says Éric Jeuffrault, CIRAD Regional Director for Réunion, Mayotte and Indian Ocean.

A global centre of excellence for plant health

The facility houses pathology and molecular genetics, terrestrial ecology, crop pest management, biological resource conservation, entomology and - and this is new - nematology operations. It is an advanced innovation and technology platform that fits perfectly with CIRAD's commitment to integrative science in partnership, as stressed by CIRAD President Managing Director when he launched the work in August: "The Plant Protection Platform represents the type of science CIRAD wants to embody: global excellence to benefit our partners. None of our other sites has anything like what is being built in Réunion, in terms of plant health and biocontrol in the tropics."

13 million euros

The project, which will cost almost 13 million euros, primarily provided by the European Union ERDFConvergence and Interreg V programmes and the Réunion Region, the State, ADEME and CIRAD, was launched in June 2016 and is due for completion in 2022. The aim is to supplement the 3P scientific platform built in 2002.

A bio-construction project

The 3P extension is a sustainable, bioclimatic construction project. The buildings will be clad in local wood, with high-performance insulation. A landscaped garden will ensure optimum climate comfort. The offices will have natural ventilation and more energy-efficient equipment. A study is under way to decide whether to fit solar panels on the roof of the extension to save energy.

The project will also make use of the biodiversity available in Réunion. Major endemic and indigenous heritage species such as spongewood, bois de sable (Indigofera ammoxylum ) or bois amer (Carissa spinarum ) will be used in line with the legislation on protected species.

The project has the PREBAT and ISO 9001 labels.