Ginger (Zingiber officinale L.) belongs to the family Zingiberaceae and is one of the world's most important spice. Ginger has been used for thousands of years for the treatment of numerous ailments such as cold, nausea, arthritis, migraines and hypertension. The spicy aroma of the ginger is primarily due to the presence of ketones, especially the gingerols. Ginger is primarily propagated vegetatively through its rhizomes. Productivity of ginger is severely affected by high variation, low proliferation rate and availability of disease-free rhizomes as planting material. The vegetative propagation of ginger using rhizome is very slow process and only 4-5 plants can be produced from one rhizome in a year. Tissue culture has long been recognized as an efficient means for rapid clonal multiplication of disease free plants of important plant species especially the ones which are vegetatively propagated. BARC has developed a technology for micropropagation of ginger which offers a continuous source of numerous uniform size and disease free plantlets throughout the year. The protocol will provide good quality planting material and will enhance potential productivity of this crop. This technology can also be used in germplasm conservation of elite varieties of ginger.

1. Production of uniform or true type ginger plants: Rapid multiplication.
2. Requirement of limited number of explant: Cost effective.
3. Produce from tissue-culture plants at par with that of rhizome-raised plants.
4. Germplasm storage.
5. Disease free planting material.

1. Agriculture sector.
2. Biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.
3. Plant nurseries.

Ginger (Zingiber officinale L.) belongs to the family Zingiberaceae and is one of the world's most important spice and medicinal plant used in pharmaceutical and culinary purposes. Ginger has been used for thousands of years for the treatment of numerous ailments such as cold, nausea, arthritis, migraines and hypertension. The spicy aroma of ginger is primarily due to the presence of ketones, especially the gingerols. Ginger is propagated vegetatively through its rhizomes. Productivity of ginger is severely affected by high variation, low proliferation rate and availability of disease-free rhizomes as planting material. As propagation of ginger is exclusively through rhizomes, the transmittance of diseases takes place through rhizomes from generation to generation and affects productivity and quality. The dormancy of rhizomes delays the cultivation process by nearly two months. The cost of cultivation is also increased as only few plants can be obtained from these rhizomes. Thus, non-availability of good quality planting material, the transmittance of diseases, slow multiplication rate are the major constraints in the improvement of potential productivity of ginger.

BARC has developed a micropropagation protocol for ginger, which ensures continuous production of numerous disease free, uniform plantlets throughout the year with rapid multiplication rate in small unit area and short time. Plantlets produced through this protocol can be hardened and directly transferred to the field, which reduces the cost of maintenance of rhizomes as planting material. The specially devised medium initiates shoot multiplication, elongation and rooting simultaneously, reducing the cost as well as labor. As the protocol does not require frequent subcultures, the chances of somaclonal variations are minimum, thereby ensuring genetic uniformity of the regenerated plantlets. Thus, this protocol will be useful in planning and scheduling of production of ginger plants based on the market demand.

1. Uniform and disease free planting material
2. Rapid multiplication of plantlets in short time with minimum requirement of initial material (a few axillary buds)
3. Reduction in maintenance cost of rhizomes as a planting material
4. Availability of planting material throughout the year
5. Better method for germplasm conservation of ginger

1. Agriculture sector
2. Biotechnology companies

Raw Material

1. Healthy rhizomes with sprouts.
2. Chemicals: MS medium (Murashige and Skoog, 1962) and hormones used in this protocol is available locally.

Equipments

1. Autoclave
2. Laminar air-flow unit
3. Water distillation unit
4. pH meter
5. Analytical balance
6. Refrigerator
7. Standard laboratory glasswares

Space

1. Standard tissue culture laboratory: A small room of 400 sq. ft. area (20 ft x 20 ft) with routine tissue culture facilities.
2. Culture room (100 sqft): clean, air conditioned and well illuminated room to grow the cultures.

Power

1. Both single & three phase power connection.

Manpower

1. Two skilled technicians for preparing medium and tissue culture work.