Abstract
Date palm is believed to have been introduced into Nigeria in the early 8th century by Arab traders from north Africa. Date fruits are a highly valued delicacy among many communities in Nigeria, especially during ceremonies and festivals. The national consumption of dates in 2009 is estimated at 8,958 metric tons which placed the country among the world top 10 consumers of date. Despite conducive soil and climatic conditions for date palm cultivation and the existance of local varieties with good fruit qualities, date palm cultivation is still at subsistance level and domestic production is estimated at only 1,958 metric tons. Attempts to improve the Nigerian date palm industry through the establishment of commercial date palm plantations have been hindered by lack of good planting materials. However, recent evaluation of the response of some of the Nigerian date palm cultivars to 2,4-D induced callogenesis demontrated the high propensity of the genotypes to in vitro culture, with more than 50% embryogenic callus formation on modified MS supplemented with 50 micrometer 2,4-D in all the genotypes tested. Further research is needed to complete and optimise this protocol in order to solve the problem of date palm planting materials in the country.
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