Abstract:
Ethiopia’s sugar industry is increasing more than ever before and becoming one of the major
pillars of the country’s economy. Conventional propagation of sugar cane has very low rate
of multiplication and harbors diseases. This study was conducted to develop micropropagation
techniques for rapid multiplication of disease-free sugarcane planting material
through apical meristem explant. Sterile sugarcane variety (sp-70) was cultured on MS basal
medium supplemented with BAP (0, 0.25. 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 mg/l), in combination with, IBA (0, 0.5,
mg/l). For shoot initiation, explants were incubated for a week in dark. Thereafter, the
initiated shoots were transferred to MS basal medium supplemented with 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 3mg/l of
BAP combined with 0, 0.5, 1mg/L, IBA and incubated for a month in a growth room. For
rooting, plantlets were transferred to half-strength MS medium with 0.5,1,2,3,4, mg/l of NAA.
Acclimatization was done in greenhouse on substrate mix of autoclaved garden soil, farmyard
manure and sand in 2:1:1 ratio. Analysis of variance showed that 0.5mg/l BAP resulted in
higher shooting response than other treatments. Shoot multiplication was significantly higher
when cultured on MS basal medium supplemented with 1mg/l BAP and 0.5mg/l IBA. In
rooting better result was obtained in 1/2MS medium supplemented with 1mg/l NAA. The
plantlets transferred to greenhouse showed a survival rate of 98% after 30 days. From theresult of the study it can be concluded that for establishment of culture 0.5mg/l BAP, for shoot
multiplication 1mg/l BAP and 0.5mg/l IBA, whereas, for rooting 1mg/l NAA respectively was
the best hormonal concentration and combinations. Plantlets were survived 98% in green
house in soil, farmyard manure and sand in 2:1:1ratio. Though this protocol can be used for
efficient propagation of this sugar cane variety and further investigation on some factors that
may hinder propagation effort should be done to enhance the success.
