Tissue culture plants help increase yield and profits

Theni District of Tamil Nadu is the emerging hub for tissue culture banana variety called Grande Naine.

Plant tissue culture, also known as micro propagation, is gaining popularity due to the following advantages:

• Higher yield
• Resistant to disease
• Saplings available throughout the year
• Mass propagation of selected elite varieties
  

The following are examples of plants that are being successfully propagated in large scale through tissue culture in India:

• Fruits: Banana, Pineapple
• Sugar cane: Sugar factories are increasingly using tissue culture plants.
• Spices: The Spices Board, Cochin, has brought large area under tissue culture cardamom and vanilla cultivation through involvement of progressive farmers.
• Medicinal plants: Aloe, Safed Musali
• Flowers: Carnation, Gerbera
• Trees: Sandal wood, Eucalyptus, Teak
  

The Department of Biotechnology has set up two micropropagation technology parks:

• The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi
• National Chemical Laboratory (NCL), Pune

Central and Sate Government subsidy is available for planting tissue culture plants as well as for exporting plant products. Please check with your local Agriculture Office.

Some banks like Canara Bank have also been financing tissue culture projects as a priority.