Vol. 12, Issue 9 (2023)

Author(s):
RV Padmavathi, K Ravindra Kumar, G Ramanandam, P Vinaya Kumar Reddy, A Snehalatha Rani and T Gourisankar

Abstract:
Bananas and plantains (Musa spp.) are the most critical socio-economic crops globally, being a staple food for millions of people in the tropics and also an essential commodities for the export market, including the sub-tropics. Vegetative propagation through sword suckers is slow and may carry harmful pathogens from one field to another, causing huge losses to farmers. Although frequently used in banana crops, Cavendish genotypes account for the majority of micro-propagation. Due to the absence of effective in vitro multiplication procedures, the production of tissue culture plant material is severely restricted in culinary genotypes. This experiment was undertaken to standardize the suitable growth regulator and its concentration on in vitro shoot proliferation of banana, cv. Kovvur Bontha (ABB) at Dr. YSRHU-Horticultural Research Station, Kovvur, Andhra Pradesh, during 2022-23 in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). Banana cv. Kovvur Bontha (ABB) apical meristems were used as explants. Among the different plant growth hormones evaluated, the maximum number of shoots per culture (33.42) and maximum rate of shoot multiplication (3.11) resulted when the apical meristems were cultured in MS medium fortified with 4.0 mg/l BAP and 0.2 mg/l IAA up to the fifth subculture. Early shoot initiation (5.14 days) was noticed when the explants cultured on 3.0 mg/l BAP + 0.2 mg/l IAA up to fifth subculture. This media will facilitate the rapid multiplication of tissue culture plants in culinary banana genotypes.