Introduction:

Plants have been conventionally propagated by seed and vegetative methods. Seeds are generally heterozygous and cause undesirable variability in the off-springs. Moreover, methods of vegetative propagation are not available for all the plant species. Further, these methods, wherever available, are slow and able to produce a limited number of propagules. Plant Tissue Culture has become an important alternative where any plant species can be cloned and a large number of genetically uniform disease-free plants can be obtained within a short period of time. The technique enables production of plants in a small laboratory space round the year, independent of the season. The controlled physico-chemical culture environment ensures uniform growth and optimum field performance of the plants. The technique has been widely applied for large-scale production of quality plants including fruit plants, ornamentals, plantation crops, tree species, spices and condiments. The demand for tissue culture derived plants has been growing exponentially across the globe. A large number of tissue culture based industries have been engaged in commercial production of selected plant species in India and abroad. There is a huge demand for trained manpower in this sector. The course being offered will train manpower suited to the needs of the industry so that the trained personnel become employable. In addition, the course will also provide advanced training to become an entrepreneur in the said area.

Objectives:

1) To train manpower suited to the needs of Plant Tissue Culture Industry and Research centers.
2) To impart advanced training in plant tissue culture technology to develop entrepreneurship skills.

Eligibility Criteria

Students who are pursuing or completed their B.Sc. in any discipline of Biological Sciences or BE / B.Tech. Biotechnology is eligible.

Duration

One year (Two semesters) weekend programme.

Lectures and practicals on all Saturdays from 9:00 am to 5:00 PM within the campus.