Plant Propagation and Nursery Management (1+1)

Applications of Micro Propagation

The various applications of micro propagation are:

1. Rapid rate of multiplication of a plant clonally
2. Production of disease-free and disease resistant plants
3. Induction of mutants and selection of mutants
4. Production of haploids through anther culture
5. Wide hybridization through excised embryo and ovule culture
6. Somatic hybrids and cybrids through protoplast fusion
7. Transformation through uptake of foreign genome
8. Nitrogen fixation
9. Cryopreservation of germplasm types

Advantages

• Production of large propagating material in shorter time
• Production of disease-free plants
• Clonal propagation of parental stock for hybrid seed production
• Year-around nursery production
• Useful in propagation of dioecious plants
• Breeding cycle is reduced
• Useful in hard-to-propagate plant species
• Germplasm preservation
Disadvantages

• Expensive and sophisticated facilities, trained personnel and specialized techniques are required
• High cost of production results from expensive facilities and high labour inputs
• Contamination or insect infestation can cause high losses in a short time
• Higher level of somatic variation
• Poor establishment of the plantlets in the field