The Agronomical Revolution : Initiation of Tissue Culture to increase the yield of Banana
The Bihar Agricultural University (BAU) has stepped on a new path aiming at the augmentation of the banana yield in the region. They have taken up ‘plant tissue culture method’ for commercial banana production, with help of the Tissue Culture Laboratory at BAU .
Apart from better yield, the tissue culture method is also useful in warding off fruit diseases that not only reduce production, but also cause wilting of the banana flowers at early stages. Bhagalpur district’s Naugachia sub-division is known as ‘Banana Bowl’ for cultivating the most fragrant varieties of banana besides litchi and mango.
Annual yield is more than 3 lakh metric tonnes of ‘Hari Chaal’ and ‘Robusta’ varieties of banana, and those are transported to different states. As such, the tissue culture method is likely to aid in better and disease free banana production, said sources. The problem of preserving banana yield due to its low shelf-life can be solved through tissue culture method of banana cultivation as the new breeds of banana created through this technique have better shelf-lives.
Plant tissue culture is a collection of techniques used to maintain or grow plant
cells, tissues or organs under sterile conditions on a nutrient culture medium, said a scientist at BAU. It is widely used to produce clones of a plant in a method known as micro-propagation in order to produce exact or better variety of plants for good flowers, fruits or have other desirable qualities, he continued.The production of plants in sterile containers is also useful in reducing chances of transmitting diseases, pests, and pathogens, added the scientist, saying that it also helps in eliminating viral and other infections from the specific plants and allows to quickly multiply these plants as ‘cleaned stock’ for horticulture and agriculture purposes.
