In vitro clonal propagation of papaya (Carica papaya L.) cv. ‘Taiwan-786’ through lateral bud culture

An experiment titled "In vitro Clonal Propagation of Papaya (Carica papaya L.) cv. 'Taiwan-786' through Lateral Bud Culture" was conducted at the Laboratory and Experimental Station, Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture & Technology, Modipuram, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, during the year 2022. The objective of this study was to investigate the morphogenetic responses and root formation phenomena of papaya plants propagated under Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with five different concentrations (0.0, 0.5 mg/L, 1.0 mg/L, 1.5 mg/L, and 2.0 mg/L) of 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) and 0.5 mg/L α-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) with each level of BAP. The shortest duration for shoot emergence was observed with 0.5 mg/L BAP and 0.5 mg/L NAA, while the highest number of leaves and shoots were recorded with a combined medium solution of 1.0 mg/L BAP and 0.5 mg/L NAA. A higher concentration of BAP (1.5 mg/L) resulted in a rapid shoot induction. Among the seven levels (0.0, 0.65, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0 mg/L) of indole-3-butyric acid (IBA), the maximum number of roots was achieved with 1.5 mg/L, and the greatest root length per shoot was observed with a 2.0 mg/L concentration. Successfully rooted plantlets were hardened and acclimatized to greenhouse conditions. The developed protocol is efficient, genotype-specific, and suitable for the large-scale production of disease-free, true-to-type papaya planting materials.