Mazandaran province is considered the agricultural hub of Iran due to its favorable climate and fertile soil. The existence of fertile agricultural and garden lands, vast and ancient forests, and diverse terrestrial and aquatic fauna and flora have transformed this province into a diverse biological resource with specific ecological niches. In this context, and in order to comprehensively integrate related research activities and link education and research, the Tabarestan Agricultural Genetics and Biotechnology Research Institute was formed at the Sari University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. This research institute has a complete and independent organizational structure and consists of rice, citrus, medicinal plants, genetic engineering, and molecular biology breeding groups. Since the establishment of this research center (1938), it has set up a set of laboratories in various fields of biotechnology with an area of about 1,000 square meters and has provided significant educational, research, and laboratory services in fields related to biotechnology. The existence of greenhouses (about 2,000 square meters) and a research farm (about 40,000 square meters) in this research institute and the implementation of important research projects in various strategic fields such as the production of biofertilizers, biopesticides, chitosan, chitin, enzymes, agar, astaxanthin, and the improvement and introduction of various rice, rapeseed, and soybean varieties have been able to produce important results. The commercialization of tissue cultured plants, both at the level of virus-free seedlings and their commercial production, has provided a suitable basis for the research institute to connect with the industry. The publication of the Journal of Plant Molecular Breeding (JPMB) with a scientific-research level and in English as a platform for publishing the latest research findings in the field of genetic engineering and plant breeding, numerous technical, promotional, and applied journals, and books related to agriculture are another part of the research activities in this research institute. In this research complex, an attempt has been made to draw a five-year vision for its future activities from the perspective of research capacities and scientific achievements. In this vision, an attempt is made to design and implement large-scale projects with the aim of their application and commercialization in . This research institute, with its remarkable specialized capabilities, is capable of solving many of the challenges in the field of agriculture through research and paving the way for providing technical knowledge in the production of various products at a commercial level. On the other hand, with an emphasis on the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the guidelines of the Supreme Leader on scientific shortcuts and operationalizing the country's comprehensive scientific map, in order to achieve the goals of the Iran Vision Document 1404This research center, with goals such as mission-oriented development and expansion of research in various fields of agricultural biotechnology and the achievement of new agricultural sciences and technologies in a way that can pave the way for the goals of the 20-year vision document, is very determined and will not hesitate a moment in accelerating the implementation of major national projects and commercializing research achievements.
About the Institute