A €2.6 million seed testing project was inaugurated by Parliamentary Secretary Roderick Galdes today.

The project, co-financed by the European Union, incorporates a visitors’ centre and a new seed testing lab. The testing will take place at the Plant Biotechnology Centre in Attard.

Mr Galdes said the project focused on plants which were derived from native ones to cultivated and wild indigenous plants that were threatened and at risk.

The garden, which would be open to the public later this year, would be divided in five sections:

* typical plants found on disturbed land;

* shrubs of low and medium height found in garigue areas;

* tall shrubs and small trees;

* trees found in wooded areas; and

* plants associated with agriculture.

An important part of the project, Mr Galdes said, was the building and equipping of a seed laboratory for purity testing. The project would also improve existing labs which tested batteries, viruses, insects and plant fungi.

These labs helped individualise diseases which endangered local plants.

It would also incorporate a visitors’ centre within the garden and would have several educational facilities including a state of the art media room and a conference hall.