1. Banana production through tissue culture has greatly benefited smallholder farmers in India by providing pathogen-free, uniform planting material that results in early, higher yields due to uniform growth and flowering. 2. While tissue culture technologies have been developed for several spices, they have not significantly helped smallholder farmers due to the crops' specific climate requirements and limitations of the technologies. Improving tissue culture methods and developing low-cost greenhouse cultivation techniques could extend these crops to new areas. 3. Research is working to cultivate saffron through high-density greenhouse production and biotechnological techniques like in vitro flowering to make it possible to produce saffron outside its native range and throughout the year.

1. Impact of Crop Biotechnologies for Smallholder
Farmers in India: A Case Study of Plant Tissue Culture
Dr. C. K. John
Plant Tissue Culture Group, Biochemical Sciences Division,
CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Pune 411008, India.

2. Banana (Musa spp.)
• Banana (Musa sp.) ranks first in production and third in
area among fruit crops in India.
State wise production of banana in 2016-17 in the
major producing states in India
Sr.
No
State Million
tonnes
1 Tamil Nadu 4.322
2. Gujarat 4.189
3. Andra Pradesh 4.083
4. Maharashtra 3.529
A banana farm
Picture credit: Wikipedia

3. Tissue culture (TC) technologies in Banana
• Banana is one crop in which plant TC technologies
have greatly benefited smallholder farmers.
• TC technologies help in solving major problems in
banana propagation.
• Low number of suckers, pathogen transmittal,
variation in age and size affecting non-uniform growth
and flowering, making harvest and marketing difficult.
• TC provides pathogen free, uniform healthy planting
material from selected high yielding mother plants in
large numbers.
• Resulting in uniform growth and flowering, early and
higher yields.
• TC technology can also be used for multiplication of
locally important, premium varieties.

4. Factors which make TC in banana a great success
1. Grows well in tropical humid lowlands (a temp.
range of 15-35oC, and 75-85% relative humidity),
from the sea level to 2000 m above MSL.
2. Advantages TC technologies offer in its propagation.
3. Cost of TC plant to return is very high.
AKRUTI Tech Pack, BARC, Mumbai has taken steps to disseminate banana TC
Technology in Maharashtra, India

5. Changing preference in local consumption
• In Maharashtra only few varieties (Dwarf
Cavendish, Robusta, Grand Naine) are
propagated by commercial laboratories,
and cultivated by farmers.
• In recent years there is increasing demand
for premium varieties (Velchi, Yellaki etc.)
of banana due to influx of people from
other parts of the country and growing
affluence.
• Increasing varietal diversity in banana can
help both Micropropagation industry and
smallholder farmers.
var. Poovan
Picture credit:
Palakkad Grocery

6. TC technologies in spices
• TC technologies in spices (for e.g. black pepper, small
cardamom, turmeric etc.) have not benefited
smallholder farmers as much as expected.
• This is because:
1. Crop is cultivated only areas where the conditions
are conducive for their growth, because of specific
agro-climatic requirements (black pepper, small
cardamom).
2. Limitations of the technology (turmeric)

7. Making TC technology in spices beneficial to farmers
• Because of the climate diversity available in the
country, these high value, low volume, non-perishable
agricultural produces have great potential for
introduction to many new areas for the benefit of
smallholder farmers.
• For this:
1. Further improvements in tissue culture
technologies, and
2. Developing methods for their low cost
shade-house/ greenhouse cultivation outside the
crops’ native ranges are necessary.

8. Cardamom (Eletteria cardamomum)
• Cardamom of commerce is the
dried ripe fruit (capsules) of
cardamom plant. often referred as
the “Queen of Spices”.
• Cardamom is a perennial,
herbaceous, rhizomatous plant.
• Indian cardamom enjoys a
premium preference in the
International markets.
• Though one of the first TC
technologies transferred to an
industry in India is of small
cardamom, now it is not widely
used in commercial propagation.
Cardamom of commerce
Small cardamom (Eletteria
cardamomum plant in its
natural habitat

9. Black pepper (Piper nigrum)
• It has straight upward
growing main stem and
lateral shoots.
• The terminal buds of lateral
shoots get modified into an
inflorescence (spike).
• Though TC technologies are
available, not widely used for
commercial propagation.
• Black Pepper is the dried mature berry of
Piper nigrum.
• A climbing, perennial shrub mostly found
in hot, moist region of South India.
Black pepper of commerce
Picture credit: Agrifarming.in

10. Turmeric (Curcuma longa)
• Spice, coloring agent and
medicine
• Sterile triploid
• Many superior varieties
developed by selection
• Has potential for introduction in
many places
• TC technology available but not
commercially exploited for
various reasons
• We are addressing this problem
by two approaches:
1. Producing high quality TC plants
2. Producing Microrhizomes

11. Saffron (Crocus sativus L.)
• Saffron, the dried stigmas of Crocus sativus L.
(Iridaceae), is the costliest spice (Rs. 2.0 lakh/ Kg in
wholesale, and Rs. 300-350/gm in retail).
• Contains a bitter principle – picrocrocin, an odorous
compound – safranal, and a coloring matter – crocin.
• Long been used as a food additive, flavoring agent,
dye stuff, and medicine.
• High cost because of 3 reasons: specific agro-climatic
requirement, low yield, and labor intensive
harvesting.
• Urgent need to increase production and export of
saffron from India.
• By traditional cultivation it is difficult.

12. Saffron crocus (Crocus sativus L.)
• Cultivation dates back to 1500-2500 BC, originated
probably in Iran, Asia Minor or Greece
• At present cultivated in a narrow geographical belt from
Crete (Spain) to Kashmir (India).
• Popular belief: “Saffron can be cultivated only in its
native range”
Picture credit: Wikipedia

13. Saffron research at CSIR-NCL
 We are trying 3 Biotechnological approaches:
1. Standardizing a method for high density, greenhouse
cultivation outside the crop’s present range.
To introduce saffron crocus in many cooler places
outside the crop’s present range where the cool deficit
is not too much as compared to Jammu & Kashmir.
2. In vitro flowering/ in vitro proliferation of floral
primordia.
To free the crop from the requirement of specific agro-
climatic conditions, and make it possible to get season
independent, year round production of saffron
outside the field anywhere in the world.
3. In vivo/ In vitro induction of polyploidy.
To produce a high yielding hexaploid variety
adaptable to wider ecological niches, and may
possibly restore fertility.

14. Successfully standardized many parameters (time of corm lifting,
corm size, planting medium, depth of planting, irrigation,
fertigation, chilling requirement, etc.) for high density greenhouse
cultivation in CSIR-NCL, Pune; got flowering like in native range
Saffon from CSIR-NCL Greenhouse comparable with that from
Kashmir field (HPLC study).
Greenhouse cultivation of saffron

15. Saffron Cultivation
 Saffron cultivation requires suitable soil and climate
 Fertile, well drained loamy soil / a mixture of suitable soil,
fine sand and organic additives / artificial planting medium
cab ne used.
 Climate factors are more important than soil.
 There are four climate requirements
1. Early and heavy rains are very harmful. Need protection in
places with heavy and early rains. Rains/ irrigation by end
August/ September/ October beneficial
2. An autumn like climate (falling day lengths and falling night
temperatures to 10-12oC during end October/November
necessary for flowering
3. Cold ground/irrigation with ice cold water necessary during
winter months (November to February).
4. Hot summers (~40oC during April/May) are not a problem,
can be managed by adjusting planting depth.

16. Greenhouse Cultivation – What Next?
• Making a prototype of an efficient low-cost
greenhouse/ testing
• Scaling up,
• Experiments using raised beds/ soil less culture
medium/ automated underground drip irrigation
• Identifying few suitable locations having low cool
deficit as compared to Kashmir (long winters and
winter temperature in the range + 2-5oC), and
conducting trials
• Identifying few progressive farmers and transferring
the technology.

17. Thank you