Technology Transfer and Innovation Management. S.B.Rajbhandary

Cost reduction of Tissue culture plants Tissue culture plants of floricultural, horticultural and tree species are commercially produced in tens of millions in tissue culture factories over the last three decades. The application of the technology lags far behind its potential because of high production cost of tissue culture plants. One major factor that entails the high production cost of tissue culture plant is in vitro rooting. In vitro rooting is reported to account 30 to 70 % of the total production cost. A simple and efficient rooting of micro shoots in the non- sterile sand has been developed in Nepal such that the production cost of tissue culture plant is reduced significantly.

In vitro rooting costs % of production cost

Professor Murashige May 8, 1989 Referred as father of commercial tissue culture.

Technology Transfer Prof. Murashige started classes on tissue culture to nurserymen, horticulture teachers and amateur plant enthusiasts in The classes served as a basis for establishment of commercial laboratories. One trainee converted the garage into tissue culture laboratory.

Professor Murashige Prof.Murashige had recommended ex vitro rooting for cost reduction in 1974 We told him we worked on the problem and developed sand rooting He was inquisitive and asked me if we put any chemical in the sand

Banana tissue culture Tissue culture of banana in Nepal began in In one year some 4000 tc plants of william hybrid were produced and given to farmers. Technology passed on to tissue culture factories. Over one million tc plants sold to farmers.

Banana 8-12 weeks cultures Sand rooting Sand rooted in 6 weeks

Just before packing Packed plants World price US $ 1-2 each Nepal price five plants for US $ 1 Some one million banana tc plants have been sold to farmers in Nepal in ten years.

William hybrid Introduced from Israel in 1982 Fingers per plant150 Gestation period12-14 months Plant height9-12 ft Size of finger 10 inch Weight of finger200 g

yield of banana tc plant and conventional sucker ton/ha tc sucker yr Nepal Kenya

Potato tissue culture Appropriate Technology International, USA, an international NGO, trained the farmers in sand rooting technique of producing potato tissue culture plants in Hundreds of farmers of Nala and Panauti produced tc potato plants by rooting microshoots in sand in their polyhouse.

Sieved sand Sand-rooting of microshoots by trainees

Sand rooted cuttingTubers from tissue culture plant

Cost of tissue culture plant The cost to the farmer for the microshoots was less than US $ 0.02 each The cost of potato potato tc plant was quoted US $ 0.50 each in Oregon USA in 2003.

Polyhouse at farmer’s field Light, temperature and humidity are critical for rooting of microshoots

1993, December 5 Tc potato plants produced by farmers

Field planted tissue culture plants

MS42.3 and Kufrijyoti

Potato farmers at Nala

Production of tc potato plant Nepal with the present potato cultivated in over one hundred and fifty thousand hectares produces 11 ton per hectare that is well below the world average of 16 ton per hectare. This low yield is generally attributed to the poor seed tuber quality. Thus, Nepal needs some 6 million tissue culture plants annually to produce 6 billion tubers of third generation to cover the potato plantation. This is achievable using sand rooting technique.

One test tube plant, Nara var from Japan in 1991 Tissue culture factories sold thousands of tc plants to farmers in late 1990s strawberry Tens of hectares covered with strawberry in Kakani producing fruits in tons Initiation of strawberry tissue culture coincides with extension of field cultivation

Strawberry vendors at New Road, March 27, 06

, Packed plants survived air transport to Japan, USA India One kg of packed box contains 500 tc plants carnation

Eucalyptus camaldulensis Tc sapling 12 week old Planted in 1987 Six years old in 1993, 80 cm In Sagarnath thousands of hectares are planted but average yield is 12ton/ha whereas the yield increase could be over 50ton/ha based on the observation of the growth of this tree in 17 years, 2.4cm diameter increase per year

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