Micropropagation of Elite Genotypes of Banana : In Vitro Mass Production of Banana (Musa spp.) Plants through Micropropagation and Somatic Embryogenesis

Micropropagation from shoot tips of one-month-old suckers of six banana cultivars and subsequent field evaluation for commercial exploitation, were studied. Among the various growth regulators, the medium with 5 mg/l BAP was found to be the most effective for micropropagation. Among the six banana cultivars, Sabari (AAB genome) was the most responsive genotype to micropropagation. Micropropagated plants of all cultivars showed significantly superior performances for yield and yield contributing characters over sucker-derived plants. In the second part induction of callus from the male flowers and subsequent somatic embryogenesis were tested. Among the different media formulations, the medium fortified with 4 mg/l 2,4-D + 1 mg/l each of IAA, NAA and biotin was found to be the most effective growth regulator formulation for callus induction and growth. Among the five cultivars male flowers of Sabari were found to show the highest response to callus induction and subsequent embryo formation. Somatic embryo derived plants of all banana cultivars at maturity exhibited wide range of variation in yield and yield contributing characters.