Effect of Thidiazuron Concentration on In Vitro Shoot Initiation and Multiplication of Banana cv. Robusta

Abstract

Banana (Musa spp.) is one of the most economically important fruit crops cultivated worldwide. The problem of availability of disease-free planting material is still a great challenge in sustainable banana production because of the presence of pests and pathogens and the low multiplication rate of conventional propagation techniques. Micropropagation is an efficient method for fast multiplication of elite cultivars. The present study was designed to assess the effect of various concentrations of thidiazuron (TDZ) on shoot initiation and multiplication of banana cv. Under vitro conditions, Batisa is bathed. The shoot tip explants from healthy sword suckers were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing TDZ at 0.1, 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 mg L⁻¹. After 8 weeks of culture, various growth parameters such as explant survival, days to shoot initiation, number of shoots per explant, shoot length and fresh biomass were recorded. The highest survival percentage (95%) and maximum shoot length (5.50 cm) were obtained with 2.0 mg L⁻¹ TDZ while the highest shoot multiplication rate (4.50 shoots per explant) was obtained with 2.5 mg L⁻¹ TDZ among the tested concentrations. The shortest duration for shoot induction was observed at 3.0 mg L⁻¹ TDZ. The results suggest that the use of TDZ has a significant effect on shoot organogenesis in banana cv. Batisa and can be used effectively for large scale clonal propagation.