Role of Plant Tissue Culture for Improving the Food Security in India: A Review Update

Abstract

The availability of food is an essential situation for food protection. India is more or less self-sufficient in cereals but insufficient in pulses and oilseeds. Due to the changes in consumption patterns, demand for fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat, poultry and fisheries has been increasing. Hence, a need to raise crop diversification and improve allied activities. It may be noted that the slowdown in agriculture growth could be attributed to structural factors on the supply side, such as public investment, credit, technology, land and water management, etc., rather than to globalization and trade reforms. In this situation, plant tissue culture offers remarkable opportunities in in vitro propagations, plant quality improvement and production of plants with desirable agronomical quality and quantity. It’s now possible to develop virus-free plant regeneration, herbicide resistance, salinity tolerance, disease resistance, incorporation of high protein content and genetically engineered plants for desirable traits. Micropropagated plant cells and tissues have been widely used for the production of secondary metabolites, which are the rich source of many pharmaceutical and industrial products. Crop plants play a major role in the human nutrition and health by providing carbohydrates, proteins, fats, minerals, antioxidants, vitamins, phytoconstituents and dietary fibres. Plants can be used to produce pharmaceutically important proteins for immunization, enzyme therapy or pharmaceutical products. Mainly transgenic plants are used as bio-factories for producing pharmaceutical and industrial chemicals and raw materials. This paper mainly deals with a comprehensive review on the role of plant tissue culture in crop improvements and food security in Indian context.