The Phytopathology and In Vitro Agriculture laboratory of the Catholic University of Bukavu is located at UCB Karhale Campus. It has been operational since 2014. The Laboratory of Phytopathology and In Vitro Agriculture are two different names but maintained in the same field of improvement and defense of plants. This 2 in 1 lab is under control of the Faculty of Agronomic Sciences. Objectives The laboratory has set two main objectives: 1. The general objective of the laboratory is educational. We offer an ideal setting for students and researchers from the Faculty of Agronomy and elsewhere for their practical work and other research, academic internships and professionalization. 2. Specifically, this laboratory provides service to the community through its research in the field of sanitation of plant material and rapid multiplication by cultivation of meristems in vitro to make healthy and disease-free seeds available to farmers. (vitroplants). Action domain and expertise of the laboratory Didactic support for quality teaching through practical work: The laboratory receives students and researchers from all sides for experiments and manipulations in the context of pathology and plant improvement and soil biology. Sanitation of plant material and rapid multiplication: The laboratory collects plant species of agronomic and alimentary importance, sanitizes them and multiplies them by biotechnology methods based on cultures of in vitro meristems. This method offers multiple advantages which save time, require little space to produce hundreds of thousands of seedlings and the work does not depend on the growing season because the nutrition of the plants is ensured by a synthetic medium under controlled temperature and lighting. Serological detection of pathogens in plants: Due to our modern and precise equipment, we are able to detect several viral diseases such as the African cassava mosaic, the brown streak, the bacterial wilt and the BunchTop in bananas and others that cause enormous damage to farmers in the area. . Their syndromes and some of the vector agents, in particular the white fly, are observed and studied using microscopy equipment. Plant breeding and conservation: The plant defense laboratory is gradually acquiring means and techniques capable of improving our degenerate varieties following the aging of genes long exploited in our production environment and keeping them as long as possible for research purposes and subsequent practices (case of ” a banana and cassava germplasm). This is an asset used for research work on the conservation of species threatened by the effects of climate change Funding of the laboratory The activities of the laboratory are funded by the Catholic University of Bukavu, but the technical and logistical support is provided by our partner universities. Future prospects It is possible to keep old varieties safe from parasites and pathogens, in a reduced space due to the miniaturization of vitro plants and thus build a gene bank capable of facing the multiple challenges of agriculture in Congo as part of the seed center and gene bank. For more information about the laboratory, please contact murhula.malekera@ucbukavu.ac.cd