The Government of Mauritius has recognized that ‘modern agriculture’ is important to sustain the agricultural sector. In the Ministry of Agro-Industry and Food Security Strategic Plan 2016-2020, one of the key strategic orientations is ‘R&D in new technologies
to increase land productivity and sustainable production and ensure food and nutrition security; biotechnology and biological inputs in production systems.’
The aims of the Pole of Biotechnology are to promote technical advances to the agricultural sector in Mauritius. The MSIRI, having more than two decades of expertise in Biotechnology application to sugarcane and related crops, will further the adoption and implementation of recent biotechnology tools locally. One such recent technique in
implementation is the CRISPR/Cas9 tool to edit genes in the sugarcane genome. The Pole will also play a significant role in the development and application of biotechnology in other sectors in Mauritius. Young graduate scientists, including female scientists, will be
trained in specialised fields. This can also be an opportunity for the scientists to register for a postgraduate degree locally or abroad. In the short, medium and long term, the Pole of Biotechnology will acquire a number of modern biotechnology tools and this will allow
for significant improvement in the agricultural sector in Mauritius.