VITRO POTATO PLANTS FROM IRAD BAMBUI TRANSPLANTED TO IRAD BAYANGAM

IRAD, in partnership with the International Potato Center (CIP) and many others, has set up a greenhouse in Bayangam (which houses a branch of the institute inaugurated on 15 March 2024 by the Minister for Scientific Research and Innovation, Dr Madeleine Tchuinté) to produce mini-tubers and rooted apical cuttings (RAS) of potatoes, in order to boost the production of seeds with high yield potential in the potato value chain. This revolutionary technology is designed to provide a sustainable solution to the problem of scarcity of potato seed in Cameroon.
On 30 April 2025, 1,300 in vitro plants received from the IRAD Bambui laboratory were transplanted into the IRAD Bayangam greenhouse. These included 440 vitroplants of the Cipira variety and 860 of Chulu, a variety recently registered in the national seed catalogue.
According to the researchers, these vitroplants will be used to produce more than 200,000 BAR, which in turn will be used to produce first-generation tubers that will then be multiplied.