Elementary plant Biochemistry and Biotechnology (2+1)

Synthetic seeds

• In the conventional plant tissue culture for clonal propagation, storage and transportation of propagules for transplantation is a major problem. To overcome this problem during 1980s and 1990s, the concept of synthetic or artificial seeds became popular, where somatic embryos were encapsulated in a suitable matrix (e.g. sodium alginate), along with substances like mycorrhizae, insecticides, fungicides and herbicides. In India, this technique of synthetic seeds was standardized and practiced for sandalwood and mulberry at BARC (Bombay).
 


• Synthetic seeds have many advantages including the following:
1. They can be stored up to a year without loss of viability;
2. They are easy to handle, and useful as units of delivery;
3. They can be directly sown in the soil like natural seeds and do not need hardening in green house. The only limitation of synthetic seeds, is the high cost of their production. However, this may go down in future, so that the synthetic seeds will become popular at the commercial scale in due course of time.