Enhancing Micro-propagation of Some Cameroonian Plantain (Musa paradisiaca L) Cultivars/Landraces

Aims: This study was conducted to enhance germplasm conservation of some indigenous plantain landraces through tissue culture techniques in Cameroon.

Study Design: The experiment was laid out in a completely randomized design (CRD) with three treatments in four replications.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in the tissue culture laboratory of the Institute of Agricultural Research for Development (IRAD), Bambui, Cameroon, in the first half of 2018.

Methodology: Explants were gotten from three plantain land races (Kwah, Ngumbe and Sangmoh) gotten from Bambui. Shoot tips were excised and cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 30 g of sucrose, 5 ml of ascorbic acid, 4 ml of 6- benzylaminopurine (BAP 1 mg/l), 1 ml indole-3- acetic acid (IAA 1 mg/l) and 6 g of agar at pH of 5.8±0.1 for shoot initiation and proliferation. Data was collected over a period of 12 weeks every 4th week on the average number of buds, shoot length, number of leaves, number contaminated and number dead.

Results: All the landraces responded positively to shoot tip culture, since they could adapt and regenerate by producing buds with Ngumbe giving the highest mean number (7.0) of buds and Sangmoh giving the lowest (3.0). Analysis of variance revealed significant differences (p = 0.05) in most of the parameters measured except for number contaminated. High dead rate was recorded in Kwah with dead mean of 3.0. Ngumbe was found to regenerate better than Kwah and Sangmoh.

Conclusion: It is recommended that the three plantain landraces, germplasm be conserved. The ramification of this finding vis-à-vis germplasm conservation and increase productivity is explained.