New technology to increase banana plant availability at low cost
Is it possible to produce a banana through a banana flower? With the technology for Embryogenic Cell Suspension (ECS) developed by the scientists at the Indian Institute of Horticulture (IIHR), elakki banana plants can be micro propagated with a male banana flower.
These propagations are displayed at the three-day National Horticulture Fair (NHF) that was inaugurated on February 27 at the IIHR campus in Hesarghatta.
The elakki variety of banana, which is quite popular in southern India, is usually grown using apical shoot tips as explants. However, according to the scientists, through this method, it has gotten difficult to meet the demand for planting material.
The plants developed with the ECS obtained from the male flower ensured faster multiplication on a large scale and can be used as a substitute to shoot tip culture technology and thereby keep up with the demand. The fruits obtained from the plants developed through the new technology are also bigger when compared to regular bananas.
“An Ideal embryogenic calli can produce 50,000 – 1,00,000 plants and ensure year-long availability of plants at a lower cost. Farmers can have large scale production over a period of six months by multiplication. There will be uniformity in flowering and the planting material will be disease free along with the least contamination rate. Overall, the production cost (of elakki bananas) can be reduced by 15 – 20% using ECS technology,” said Usha Rani, senior scientist at IIHR who is also the lead developer of the technology, detailing its advantages.
Bitter-free cucumber
Under IIHR’s flagship brand Arka, a new cucumber variety named Arka Veera is also a new variety which is being displayed at the NHF. The variety is free from internal core split and bitter taste. It is also rich in antioxidant activity and minerals. This variety is expected to be helpful for farmers as it is tolerant to downy mildew disease and provides yield of 25 – 28 tonnes per hectare in 75 – 80 days.
Around 25,000 visited NHF in the last two days with more visitors expected on the last day. While around 10,000 people visited on the first day, around 25,000 people were there on Friday, according to officials from IIHR.
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