Milestone by Tocklai Tea Research Institute in micro-propagation with tissue culture

JORHAT, Feb 9 - The Jorhat-based Tocklai Tea Research Institute (TTRI) has achieved a major breakthrough in micro-propagation of tea plants by applying the tissue culture technology.

So far, this technology could not be utilised for mass propagation of tea plants. The scientific community as well as the tea industry have hailed this achievement of the TTRI as a remarkable one and maintained that this will have far-reaching benefits for the country�s tea industry in matters of quality.

TTRI Director Dr Anup Kumar Barooah has attributed the until now failure in utilising the tissue culture technology in the tea industry to difficulties in rooting and hardening of in-vitro cultured tea plants.

So far, most of the tea tissue culture work was successful in the laboratory only, and that too using the germinating seeds as the starting material, he said.

Dr Barooah, while speaking over the telephone, said Pranita Hazarika, a young lady scientist of the TTRI, in her innovative research, solved the problems faced so far in transferring the tissue cultured tea plants from �flask to field.� The plants developed by her have completed one year of luxuriant growth and received the first prune on January 20 last.

The work of this TTRI scientist clearly demonstrated that the tissue culture technology can in fact be made applicable for commercial micro-propagation of tea plantlets at a reasonable price and much faster pace than the conventional methods. It throws up the possibility of complete transformation of the entire supply chain management of tea planting material in the near future and is thus going to have a far-reaching impact on the tea industry, said Dr Barooah. He maintained that tissue culture has the potential to generate a large number of plantlets within a short time from a single cell or tissue or explants, that is plant parts.

Right now, making available climate resilient and superior cultivars as well as innovative technology for adoption by the tea gardens are crucial components for ensuring sustainability of the tea industry. The conventional tea plant multiplication methods either through germinating seed or vegetative nodal cuttings are unable to meet the mounting demand from tea gardens for good planting material and calls for a rapid low cost alternative technology.

Efforts at utilising the tissue culture technology were hitherto accosted by several problems. Further, there were reports that the few hardened tea plants developed in laboratories did not grow well in the outdoor field conditions.

Against this backdrop, the innovative work of Pranita Hazarika is to be viewed and assessed, Dr Barooah said, adding, �We can now report about the development of a simple and efficient hardening method of tissue culture raised tea micro-shoots.�

�The procedure is quite reproducible and requires less time by concurrently inducing rooting and hardening of micro-shoots. Moreover, in-vitro regeneration of tea plantlet from shoot explants collected from the field has also been successfully carried out,� said Dr Barooah.

The Chairman of the Consultative Committee of Plantation Associations (CCPA) Vivek Goenka told this newspaper that with the help of the new technology developed by the TTRI, speedy multiplication of the tea saplings would now be possible and thousands of quality saplings could be produced.

�If quality planting material could be made available in very high quantity, the quality of Indian tea would be enhanced in future years,� he said.

Senior Consultant Agronomist (Tea) Jogot Chakravartee described the above development as a remarkable one. �This will enable the tea planters to raise new plants in thousands, or even more, in their tea estates, according to their needs. For this, no large and costly green houses would be needed. This innovation will make the entire process of tea plant multiplication cost-effective and speedier. This will help the tea industry attain sustainability,� said the Senior Agronomist.