THE ECONOMICS OF PLANT TISSUE CULTURE: AN INDIAN PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

Plant Tissue Culture (PTC) in India is a clichéd topic to discuss. For an agriculturally reliant nation, the concept of large scale production of disease-free plants of choice, starting from a strikingly small plant tissue in a limited space and in a seasonally independent manner has proven to be tremendously appealing. After initial successes the technology spread its roots to most of the research institutes/universities across the world. The technology continues to charm with the benefits of mass propagation of desired plant variety, germplasm conservation, virus free plant production, somaclonal variations, propagation of RET plants and an endless list thereof. Consequently, PTC features as a basic requirement for numerous projects/ state-of-art laboratories sponsored by national and international funding agencies.