We have carved a niche as one of the booming Tissue Culture Banana Plants Exporters based in India. A large number of true to the type plants could be propagated within a short time and space and that too throughout the year. For example, it may be possible to propagate 2-4 lakhs of Tissue Cultured Plants (TCP) from a single bush of rose against 10 to 15 plants by vegetative means. Also, it may take about 2-4 months to produce healthy planting materials by tissue culture means, whereas a minimum of 6-8 months is required for most species by the latest method of vegetative propagation.

Tissue-culture could be a useful way of circumventing or eliminating disease which can accrue in stock plants. Tissue Culture Plants may have increased branching and flowering, greater vigour and higher yield, mainly due to the possibility of elimination of diseases. The method may succeed to propagate plants where seeds or vegetative propagation is not possible or difficult or undesirable.

The method saves space and energy. For example, 2500m2 of heated green house can be replaced by an acclimatized room of 10 sqm.

The flexibility of nurseries can be improved. As the capital investment on mother plants is reduced to almost zero, it may be easier to adapt to changing conditions. Additionally, a better programming of the production is possible, because of the greater plant uniformity and the availability in the mass at any time.

Tissue culture can be utilized for breeding new varieties, preservation of germplasm and in vitro synthesis of metabolites.) Commercial prospect Propagation by tissue-culture offers good commercial prospect in ornamental plants, vegetables and also fruit plants, where value of the products is high. The technique has reportedly been successful in more than 100 species of plants. It has been estimated that more than 350 million TCPs are being produced annually through tissue culture.

In India there are at least ten commercial organizations, which have developed technical competence for tissue culture with or without foreign tie-ups. The present installed capacity is about 50 million TCPs and the export is of the order of Rs. 5 crores. The working group appointed by the Ministry of Commerce has proposed an export target of Rs. 30 crores i.e. about 60 million TCPs over a five year period as against the present production of 8-10 million TCPs. Tissue culture method of propagation is highly labour intensive, 55-60% of the cost is on account of labour. India's potential for export of tissue culture plants is rated very high because of abundant and cheap labour.

The domestic market for TCPs, though nascent at present, is likely to develop, since tissue culture method of propagation can multiply an elite plant very rapidly. It is well known that one of the major constraints of horticultural development in our country is inadequate availability of quality planting materials. The demand of planting materials for major fruit crops has been estimated to be of the order of Rs. 175.4 crores during the Eighth Plan period.

It may not be possible to meet this requirement by conventional nurseries. It would, therefore, be desirable to encourage commercial tissue culture labs to supplement the production of planting material by conventional means.