Studies on callus culture in native varieties banana

Tissue culture plants are becoming planting material of choice because of disease control, uniformity and higher yield potentiality. However, conventional direct tissue culture techniques yield less number of plants in native bananas. Studies on callus culture in banana was, therefore, carried out using three native varieties of banana namely Rajapuri bale (AAB), Yelakki bale (AB) and Nanjangudu rasbale (AAB). The young male inflorescences were cultured on MS medium supplemented with 2,4-D 2 mg/l. Maximum callus induction (74.30%) was observed in Rajapuri bale which was statistically on par with Nanjangudu rasbale (68.57%), while, it was significantly minimum in Yelakki bale (48.57%). Nanjangudu rasbale recorded maximum score (1.94/5.00) followed by Rajapuri bale (1.86/5.00) and Yelakki bale (1.63/5.00). Further studies on improvement of callus quality are being carried out by choosing suitable types and levels of growth regulators, explants and media.