KHAIRPUR, July 28: The Shah Abdul Latif University (SALU) opened a biotechnology and tissue culture laboratory at its recently established Date Palm Research Institute on Thursday.

District Nazim Syed Niaz Hussain Shah who was chief guest at the inauguration ceremony said that the laboratory would be a great help to date palm growers. SALU Vice-Chancellor Dr Abdul Raheem Malik presided over the ceremony.

The nazim said that that the lab could help improve the growers’ economic conditions and advised tissue culture experts to work on banana as well.

Dr A R Malik said that the laboratory needed at least one and a half year to be able to answer date palm growers’ queries as well as to disseminate information about how to raise yield.

Dr Adil Abu Al-Saood, an Egyptian tissue culture specialist, and project director of biotechnology and tissue culture laboratory, Dr Ghulam Sarwar Markhand, also spoke at the ceremony.—Correspondent