CULTIVATION OF VIRUS-FREE BANANA TISSUE CULTURE (TC) PLANTLETS- THE PROS AND CONS “Compared to suckers, the use of plantlets grown by tissue culture (TC plantlets) has many advantages. TC plantlets are: - cheaper and easier to propagate and transport; - have a higher survival rate in the field; - reduce the cost of controlling foliar diseases by 50%; - their uniformity of growth makes it possible to control the time of flowering and harvesting; - give a significant increase in yield; - fruit quality is significantly improved (Hwang et al. 1984). However, TC plantlets also bring some new problems. There is strong evidence that: - TC plantlets are more susceptible to cytomegalovirus (CMV) than suckers; - In some plantations, where TC plantlets were grown, outbreaks of CMV with infection rates of up to 65% were observed. - Outbreaks of CMV are usually associated with poor weed control, or occur in the neighborhood of vegetable crops such as bean, cucumber, and pepper which are alternative hosts of CMV. - At an early stage of growth, TC plantlets are more sensitive to herbicide than suckers. - Over-use of herbicides inevitably causes some damage to the plants. - Another problem is that mature plants grown from TC plantlets tend to develop “floating mat”, which makes them likely to topple over after shooting. To overcome these problems, specific recommended guidelines must be followed when using virus-free plantlets. See full report in attached. fao.org/prods/gap/database/gap/files/1286_VIRUS_FREE_BANANA_PLANTLETS_IN_TAIWAN.PDF
Posted on: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 02:46:27 +0000