Seeds of Hope

EuroAsia Agro (Pvt) Ltd. established a Tissue Culture Laboratory with 20,000 sq. ft. of greenhouses to produce diseases free seeds & seedlings of high quality. A large part of planting material requirement in Sri Lanka is met through imports. The main aim is to empower poor farmers to increase their productivity and revenue by supplying healthy seeds & seedlings at a cost effective prices. We have set up grower network in every agro climatic zone in Sri Lanka in order to acclimatize planting materials & reach out to farmers. We will be working with agriculture faculties of all regional universities in the acclimatization program training the student during the process. Emphasis would be given on seed potato (tubers), big onion seedlings & Horticultural plants which have a greater demand among farmers.

Seed Potato (mini tubers) Production Program. The main objective of this program is to produce disease free potato planting materials of selected varieties to meet farmers’ requirements. Under this program, in-vitro plants, micro tubers are produced in the tissue culture laboratory, rooted stem cuttings and mini tubers are produced in insect proof net houses. We envisage improving this program to develop early mature, high yielding, late blight resistant varieties adaptable to the existing cropping systems of the up country wet zone and up country intermediate zone.

Objectives • Produce Pre-Basic potato seed (mini tubers) as per the seed policy to meet seed grower requirements • Ensure the highest possible health standards in Seed Potatoes • provide an efficient and credible laboratory testing service • Maintain an in vitro collection of potato varieties • Testing of new varieties for distinctness, uniformity and stability.

Aim. Production of approximately 10–15 % of the countries requirement of mini tubers from virus-free micro plants • Test micro plants, mini-tubers and seed crops for the general certification scheme • Maintenance of varieties by clonal selection, meristem tip-culture and in vitro regeneration to produce micro plants • Elimination of viruses from virus-infected micro plants by chemo/thermo-therapy • Conduct potato wart disease (PWD) susceptibility trials on potentially new varieties.

Onion Seed production program. Big Onions is an indispensable condiment in the Sri Lanka diet. Sri Lanka experienced self-sufficiency to declining trend in big onion production. The extent cultivated could be seen in recent past as the main reason mainly due to non-availability of quality seeds. Per capita consumption of big onion seems to be on the rise in Sri Lanka. Since Sri Lanka has the potential to expand big onion cultivation over and above the present levels, government formulated a program for the extensive cultivation of big Onions. Quality seed production became mandatory to achieve this objective. We have formulated the following program to ensure the supply of quality seed for planting.

Objectives • Produce Pre-Basic big onion seed as per the seed policy to meet seed grower requirements • Ensure the highest possible health standards in big onion seeds • Provide an efficient and credible laboratory testing service • Maintain an in vitro collection of onion varieties • Testing of new varieties for distinctness, uniformity and stability.

Aim • Production of approximately 10-15 % of the countries requirement of big onions from virus-free micro plants • Test micro plants for the general certification scheme • Maintenance of varieties by clonal selection, meristem tip-culture and in vitro regeneration to produce micro plants • Elimination of viruses from virus-infected micro plants by chemo/thermo-therapy • Conduct susceptibility trials on diseases for potentially new varieties • Conduct adoptive research programs under poly tunnels in different agro climatic zones • Conduct farmer training programs & work with extension officers to provide technical assistance to produce quality of seed in areas such as selecting suitable varieties • Improved cultural practices, balanced fertilizer application based on soil tests. (Organic and inorganic fertilizer)

Horticulture / Floriculture
The main advantages in using tissue culture method in Horticultural / Floriculture plants are large number of true to the type plants could be propagated within a short time and space and that too throughout the year. For example, it may be possible to propagate 1-2 lakhs of Tissue Cultured Plants (TCP) from a single bush of roses against 5 to 7 plants by vegetative means. Also, it may take about 2-4 months to produce healthy planting materials by tissue culture means, whereas a minimum of 6-8 months is required for most species by the latest method of vegetative propagation.

Traditionally, horticultural plants are multiplied by means of seeds (sexual propagation) or organs other than seeds (asexual or vegetative propagation). These organs are usually stems, leaves or roots. Though multiplication by seeds is the cheapest method, it suffers from certain disadvantages. Plants raised from seeds may not repeat good performance of mother plants. Many horticultural plants take a long time to produce seeds/fruits and many of them do not produce viable seeds or desired quality of seeds. Plants propagated vegetative do not suffer from these disadvantages.

Therefore, scientists started a quest for an alternative method of plant propagation which could overcome the disadvantages of both the methods described above. After many trials and errors, plant propagation by tissue culture method, which could overcome disadvantages of propagation by seeds or vegetative organs, was found commercially successful. The method (also known as micro-propagation) involves the culture of whole organism from cells or tissues or plant parts in glass (in vitro) on a defined medium under germ free conditions (sterile or aseptic)