• Biotechnology is an area with a tremendous potential in solving basic problems of food, fibre, fuel and medicine, particularly in developing Asian countries.
• It can become versatile tool for Mass multiplication of elite clones, Elimination of disease in planting material, Creation of Super genotypes of agricultural crops, Which hither to it was not possible through conventional plant breeding methods.
• Tissue culture propagation can greatly enhance our ability to produce consistently uniform superior planting material for export and domestic market.
• Advantages of tissue culture raised plants against the conventionally propagated (by suckers) plants were clearly demonstrated in banana Field trials.
• Superiority of Tissue Cultured quality plants in terms of developed root system, greater functional leaf area leading to high photosynthetic rate and higher yields in now well established.

• The technology can improve continuously, the productivity, profitability, stability and sustainability of the farming system.
• Each plant cell has the potential to generate into a single plant. This is called Totipotency and when this character is involved into rapid and mass multiplication of propagules at optimum levels is called Micropropagation. This is an alternate to slow vegetative plant propagation.
• In Tissue Culture when a group of undifferentiated and meristamatically active cell called Tissue is aseptically disserted out and put into a medium containing nutrient and incubated under conducive controlled conditions of light and temperature, it establish it self and starts growth. This is called Culture and the concept of 'tissue culture' was thus conceived.

Tissue culture involved following stages

Preparation of Stock plant

• The elite plants are selected and maintained under hygenic conditions (by spraying fungicide, bactericide and insecticide) and then the plant parts are taken for initiation.

Initiation (Stage-1) :

• The innermost tissue of surface sterilised plant in dissected aseptically and put an to the medium of growth, Medium contains major and miner elements, same vitamins. Amino acids and growth promoting hormones, solidified by agar.

Multiplication (Stage II) :

• When the tissue starts growth in stage I and forms a shoot it is transferred to another medium containing growth promoting hormones (enhancing cell division).

Shoot Organogenesis

• The growing shoot multiplies and forms a dump of 3-4 shoots. Those are transferred to another medium for shooting and rooting after optimum growth.

Shooting and Rooting (Stage III) :

• After multiplication, the single shoots are separated and placed into a shooting are rooting medium. At this stage the hormones may or may not be required.

Root Organogenesis

• The shoot elongates and new root came up. Rooting takes place within 3-4 weeks.

Hardening (Stage IV) :

• It involves acclimatisation of bottle grown plants to the natural environment in Green House.

Complete Plantlet

• The plants are taken out of the bottle and the media adhering to the root system in washed fully.
• After wards the plants are graded as per their size and then transferred singly to wells of portrays containing sterile medium (a mixture of peat moss and perlite).

• The whole portray with plants is maintained under high humidity conditions for a couple of weeks and there after the portrays are kept in open in the Green House under controlled temperature and humidity.

Established Plantlet

• This hardening taken 6 weeks and is called primary hardening - Regular sprays of plant protection chemicals are sprayed to achieve good hygenic condition of the plants.

Established Plantlet in field

• There is a good export market for banana particularly to the countries / places like. UAE, Dubai, Sharjah and AbuDhabi, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Countries, Singapore, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Malaysia.
• Small portions of banana are exported to the above Countries from the merchant exporters. No one has registered so far with the APEDA, Bangalore as exclusive growing / manufacturer exporters.
• Lot of incentives are available from APEDA for fruit exporters like Air freight subsidy financial assistance for inter national publicity to identify suitable irrigator, for the development of package for international standards.
• To utilise that benefit the farm is to be registered with APEDA as export oriented unit.
• There is also assured domestic market for banana for high quality banana in Indian cities.

• Plants are selected from high yielding clones.
• Plants are micropropagated under optimal conditions - Uniform superior planting material.
• Plants are absolutely free from diseases and pests.
• Stable plants with well-developed root system and their observation and growing capacity in very high.
• Tissue culture plants enable flexibility in accordance with the planting season and marketing demand.
• Fruit bunches are dense, and compact having well shape fingers for better marketability.
• Optimal yields are ensured every season following requisite cultural practices.
• Integration of 3 crops (including two ratoons) from tissue culture with advanced growth ensures highly profitable plantation.
• Large quantities of plants could be supplied at a time.
• Quality plant command premium in the market.
• Production of high yielding quality planting material which are uniformity healthy, disease free and having accelerated growth reducing the crop cycle.
• True to type (identified to parent) plant production in high volume through mass multiplication with in a short time round the year in relatively small space under controlled conditions.
• Novel plant breeding through cellular and molecular technique for creation of super genotypes of crops.

• Transplant only tissue culture plants.
• High density cultivation to accommodate maximum number of plants per unit area.
• Timely inspection and advice by qualified and experienced horticulturist.
• Installation of drip irrigation system.
• Apply liquid / water soluble fertilizers timely through drip irrigation system.
• Spray pesticides, insecticides and fungicides as preventive measure.
• Adjust harvesting period for a peak and high perceable period.
• Cold storage arrangement is required to enhance marketable price.