Large-Scale Production of Plants through Micropropagation: Problems, Prospects and Opportunities for India

Abstract

Current techniques for the in vitro propagation of plants and the ready acceptance of tissue culture transplants by the commercial sector have allowed for strong and continued growth within the micropropagation industry. Some companies in the USA, the Netherlands and UK, are producing up to five million plants per year and major laboratories are thinking of expanding the production to twenty million plants per year. This trend will soon saturate certain markets if product diversity does not take place. The major difficulties in expanding propagation techniques to new crops are the high production cost and the problems encountered in developing efficient systems to deal with a large number of plants. Most of these crops have seasonal peaks of demand. Better production planning with good crop mix, improved in vitro storage techniques, reduced labor costs and a better grip on contamination control are the critical factors for the successful expansion of micropropagation technology. These are discussed in detail with special reference to India for the development and expansion of this technology.