Publikationsdatum:
2020-06-06
Beschreibung:
Livingstone potato (Plectranthus esculentus N.E.Br) is an underutilised indigenous root vegetable grown by communal farmers in the eastern provinces of Zimbabwe. It is vegetatively propagated using unimproved retained tubers from the previous season. The risk of disease carryover is therefore high, leading to poor yields. The objective of the study was to exploit the tissue culture technique of micropropagation to produce a mass supply of healthy planting material for improved productivity. Two experiments were conducted: firstly, to determine the best explant type and secondly, to determine the best landrace and plant growth regulators for the growth of plantlets. The landraces, namely, Ndurwe, Musande, Chibanda, and Chizambezi, were sourced from communal farmers in the stated production areas. Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) and benzyl amino purine (BAP) were the auxin and cytokinin used, respectively. The first experiment was laid out as a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with two factors: landrace and explant type (shoot tips, nodes, and leaves). After culturing the explants on a plain Murashige Skoog (MS) medium for ten weeks, the best explant was the node with regards to the number of nodes, shoots, and roots of the plantlets which were significant (P
Print ISSN:
2356-654X
Digitale ISSN:
2314-7539
Thema:
Land- und Forstwirtschaft, Gartenbau, Fischereiwirtschaft, Hauswirtschaft
