A day industrial visit to plant tissue culture and biopesticide unit of Krishi Rasayan Private Limited, Hooghly was organized for the M. Sc. final year students of the School of Life Science and Biotechnology on November 22, 2019. Krishi Rasayan Private Limited is a fully functional agrochemical company which markets various products related to fertilizers, fungi, banana, hybrid rice plants, etc. The tour was organized as a part of their curriculum and also to strengthen knowledge base of industrial processes including the working principles and mode of operation of various large-scale bioreactors, plant tissue culture and biopesticide production. Dr. Moumita Gangopadhyay, Associate Professor, Department of Biotechnology, organized this trip for students and also accompanied the students during this trip. During the tour, scientists and personnel of the company meticulously demonstrated various processes of the company. Students learnt about structural organization of a production unit, from a laboratory scale optimization to pilot scale production and also about marketing strategies. Students also visited plant tissue culture laboratories, media preparation room, autoclave room, cleaning room, culture rooms where they were explained how production of plant tissue cultures were performed. Students also visited aeroponics chamber and were demonstrated soil free potato culture, which was an artificially created chamber with adequate amount of water and required media sprayed to the plantlets for their growth. Following the plant tissue culture sections, the students visited biopesticide unit. Finally, the students visited the packaging and logistics and concluded the day by meeting with the workers. The industrial visit had been an educational experience which motivated students to pursue their studies with much vigour. The School of Life Science and Biotechnology will continue to arrange such regular industrial visits for students.
