Crossnacreevy plant and seed testing site to close in AFBI review
- Published
The Crossnacreevy facility incorporates Northern Irelands' Official Seed Testing Station, a plant testing station and centre of expertise on seed and cultivar science
Northern Ireland's Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) is to close its plant and crop testing facility outside Belfast.
It carries out testing and research for the Department of Agriculture (DARD), other public bodies and firms.
The closure of the Crossnacreevy plant is part of a wider review of AFBI's operations which will see it withdraw from some research projects.
DARD will also stop funding a potato breeding research programme.
The department is also withdrawing funding for renewable energy, biomass and poultry production research.
AFBI's operations are spread across seven sites in Northern Ireland.
Its Crossnacreevy site incorporates Northern Ireland's Official Seed Testing Station, a plant testing station and centre of expertise on seed and cultivar science.
AFBI staff at Crossnacreevy carry out plant and seed testing and research for the Department of Agriculture (DARD), other public bodies and firms
The plant testing station and some other research functions will be transferred to another AFBI site in a gradual closure that will take four years to complete.
AFBI representatives will discuss their new strategy with relevant groups at an open day at its site in Hillsborough, County Down, on 3 September.
In a statement, DARD said it had been in discussions with AFBI "on how it can reposition itself to meet the priority needs of government and industry while responding to the budget reductions that affect all parts of the public sector".
It said "difficult choices" had been necessary as it sought to focus available funding on the "most strategically important areas" of the DARD work programme delivered by AFBI.