Characterization of mother palms and novel techniques to produce elite seedlings of coconut var. Chowghat Orange Dwarf

Abstract

Coconut is one of the major plantation crops of India and the demand for elite seedlings is exorbitant. In this study, superior mother palms of Chowghat Orange Dwarf (COD) which is not completely homozygous were identified based on Phenotypic Co-efficient of Variation (PCV), Genotypic Co-efficient of Variation (GCV), heritability and genetic advance of morphological traits for applications in crop improvement. Explants from superior palms viz., mature embryos (whole/sliced) and shoot tips (whole/sliced), were used for direct organogenesis. Among these, sliced shoot tips (4 slices) in Y3 basal + 200 µM Thidiazuran (TDZ), recorded highest shoot induction (350 %) and regeneration frequency (325%) at 30 Days After Inoculation (DAI) and 60 DAI respectively than sliced embryos (4 slices) which recorded lesser shoot induction (170 %) and regeneration frequency (125%). This is the first study that demonstrates shoot tips as one of the potential explants for in-vitro production of quality coconut seedlings.

Keywords

• coconut
• genetic variability
• direct organogenesis
• mature embryo culture and shoot tip culture