Publish Scholarly Books
& Chapters with DOI and ISBN

An International Academic Publishing Platform for Books, Edited Volumes, Conference Proceedings and Monographs

Editorial Book
Book Title: Advances in Plant Biotechnology (Volume 2)

PAID ACCESS | Published on : 09-Oct-2026 | Pages: 27-39 | Doi : 10.37446/vol2book032026/27-39

Commercialization of Plant Tissue Culture: Global Trends and the Indian Experience


  • Gaurav Singh Rathore
  • Biotechnology Centre, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya (JNKVV), Jabalpur– 482004, Madhya Pradesh, India.

  • Pramod Kumar
  • Biotechnology Centre, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya (JNKVV), Jabalpur– 482004, Madhya Pradesh, India.

  • Abhishek Garhwal
  • Department of Entomology, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya (JNKVV), Jabalpur– 482004, Madhya Pradesh, India.

  • Twisha Pareek
  • Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya (JNKVV), Jabalpur– 482004, Madhya Pradesh, India.

  • Shashank Bhargava
  • Biotechnology Centre, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya (JNKVV), Jabalpur– 482004, Madhya Pradesh, India.

  • Nishi Mishra
  • Biotechnology Centre, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya (JNKVV), Jabalpur– 482004, Madhya Pradesh, India.

  • Manoj Kumar Tripathi
  • Biotechnology Centre, Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Agricultural University (RVSKVV), Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India.
Abstract

Plant tissue culture has become a foundation of modern plant biotechnology, providing tools for crop improvement, germplasm conservation, clonal propagation and genetic transformation. Over the past several decades, it has moved from a laboratory technique to a commercially significant activity serving agriculture, horticulture, forestry, floriculture and the pharmaceutical sector worldwide. This chapter reviews the commercialization of plant tissue culture, with particular emphasis on the development of the Indian tissue culture industry. It outlines the historical development, principles and major in vitro techniques, and describes the institutional framework, government support and certification system relevant to the Indian industry. It discusses applications in agriculture, medicinal plants, forestry, floriculture, and plant-based products, along with market and export indicators and a bibliometric overview of published research. Major constraints, including production cost, contamination, somaclonal variation, infrastructure limitations, quality assurance and market awareness, are considered.

Keywords

Plant tissue culture, In vitro culture, Micropropagation, Commercialization, Crop improvement, Plant biotechnology

References

Allied Market Research. (2021). Plant tissue culture market by crop type, stage, plant type, type of media, type of growth container, cost component, variety, end user, buyer, sales channel, and region: Global opportunity analysis and industry forecast, 2021–2030. https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/plant-tissue-culture-market-A14265

Aronen, T., Sota, V., Cvjetković, B., Christie, B., Rupps, A., Fischerova, L., Rathore, D. S., & Werbrouck, S. P. O. (2025). From lab to forest: Overcoming barriers to in vitro propagation of forest trees. Journal of Forestry Research, 36, Article 120. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-025-01914-y

Bairu, M. W., Aremu, A. O., & Van Staden, J. (2011). Somaclonal variation in plants: Causes and detection methods. Plant Growth Regulation, 63(2), 147–173.

Chandra, S., Bandopadhyay, R., Kumar, V., & Chandra, R. (2010). Acclimatization of tissue cultured plantlets: From laboratory to land. Biotechnology Letters, 32(9), 1199–1205.

Chandran, H., Meena, M., Barupal, T., & Sharma, K. (2020). Plant tissue culture as a perpetual source for production of industrially important bioactive compounds. Biotechnology Reports, 26, Article e00450.

Chapman, M. A., He, Y., & Zhou, M. (2022). Beyond a reference genome: Pangenomes and population genomics of underutilized and orphan crops for future food and nutrition security. New Phytologist, 234(5), 1583–1597. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.18021

 

Dar, A. A., Mahajan, R., & Sharma, S. (2019). Molecular markers for characterization and conservation of plant genetic resources. The Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 89(11), 1764–1772. https://doi.org/10.56093/ijas.v89i11.95286

Datta, M. M., Majumder, A., & Jha, S. (2006). Organogenesis and plant regeneration in Taxus wallichiana (Zucc.). Plant Cell Reports, 25(1), 11–18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-005-0027-z

Davey, M. R., Anthony, P., Power, J. B., & Lowe, K. C. (2005). Plant protoplasts: Status and biotechnological perspectives. Biotechnology Advances, 23(2), 131–171.

Debergh, P. C., & Zimmerman, R. H. (Eds.). (1991). Micropropagation: Technology and application. Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Dogra, S. (2023). Plant tissue culture industry in India: Trends and scope. International Journal of Advanced Biochemistry Research, 7(1, Suppl. A), 28–33. https://doi.org/10.33545/26174693.2023.v7.i1Sa.176

Dwivedi, S. L., Britt, A. B., Tripathi, L., Sharma, S., Upadhyaya, H. D., & Ortiz, R. (2015). Haploids: Constraints and opportunities in plant breeding. Biotechnology Advances, 33(6), 812–829.

Eeckhaut, T., Lakshmanan, P. S., Deryckere, D., Van Bockstaele, E., & Van Huylenbroeck, J. (2013). Progress in plant protoplast research. Planta, 238(6), 991–1003.

Espinosa-Leal, C. A., Puente-Garza, C. A., & García-Lara, S. (2018). In vitro plant tissue culture: Means for production of biological active compounds. Planta, 248(1), 1–18.

Fehér, A. (2019). Callus, dedifferentiation, totipotency, somatic embryogenesis: What these terms mean in the era of molecular plant biology? Frontiers in Plant Science, 10, Article 536.

George, E. F., Hall, M. A., & De Klerk, G.-J. (2008). Plant propagation by tissue culture (3rd ed.). Springer.

Haberlandt, G. (1902). Kulturversuche mit isolierten Pflanzenzellen [Culture experiments with isolated plant cells]. Sitzungsberichte der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien, 111, 69–92.

Hasnain, A., Naqvi, S. A. H., Ayesha, S. I., Khalid, F., Ellahi, M., Iqbal, S., Hassan, M. Z., Abbas, A., Adamski, R., Markowska, D., & Baazeem, A. (2022). Plants in vitro propagation with its applications in food, pharmaceuticals and cosmetic industries: Current scenario and future approaches. Frontiers in Plant Science, 13, Article 1009395. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.1009395

Hesami, M., & Jones, A. M. P. (2020). Application of artificial intelligence models and optimization algorithms in plant cell and tissue culture. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 104(22), 9449–9485.

Ikeuchi, M., Sugimoto, K., & Iwase, A. (2016). Plant regeneration: Cellular origins and molecular mechanisms. Development, 143(9), 1442–1451.

Kahane, R., Hodgkin, T., Jaenicke, H., Hoogendoorn, C., Hermann, M., Keatinge, J. D. H., d'Arros Hughes, J., Padulosi, S., & Looney, N. (2013). Agrobiodiversity for food security, health and income. Agronomy for Sustainable Development, 33(4), 671–693.

Kala, C. P., Dhyani, P. P., & Sajwan, B. S. (2006). Developing the medicinal plants sector in northern India: Challenges and opportunities. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 2, Article 32. https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-4269-2-32

Kherallah, M., & Kirsten, J. F. (2002). The new institutional economics: Applications for agricultural policy research in developing countries. Agrekon, 41(2), 110–133. https://doi.org/10.1080/03031853.2002.9523589

Kikulwe, E. (2016). Banana tissue culture: Community nurseries for African farmers. In Case studies of roots, tubers and bananas seed systems (RTB Working Paper No. 2016-3, pp. 180–196). CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas.

Kirwale, S. V., Hilli, H. J., Shashidhara, K. S., Nagaraju, D., Thriveni, V., Singh, S., & Singh, V. (2025). Plant tissue culture techniques for secondary metabolite production: A review. Journal of Advances in Biology & Biotechnology, 28(12), 1491–1507.

Krishna, H., Alizadeh, M., Singh, D., Singh, U., Chauhan, N., Eftekhari, M., & Sadh, R. K. (2016). Somaclonal variations and their applications in horticultural crops improvement. 3 Biotech, 6, Article 54. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13205-016-0389-7

Loyola-Vargas, V. M., & Ochoa-Alejo, N. (Eds.). (2024). Plant cell culture protocols (5th ed.). Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-3954-2

Majumder, S., Igamberdiev, A. U., & Debnath, S. C. (2025). Somaclonal variation and clonal fidelity in commercial micropropagation: Challenges and perspectives. Agronomy, 15(6), Article 1489.

Marchev, A. S., Yordanova, Z. P., & Georgiev, M. I. (2020). Green (cell) factories for advanced production of plant secondary metabolites. Critical Reviews in Biotechnology, 40(4), 443–458.

Mascarenhas, A. F. (1991). Plant biotechnology in India: The role of plant tissue culture. Current Science, 60(9/10), 547–551.

McFarland, F. L., & Kaeppler, H. F. (2025). History and current status of embryogenic culture-based tissue culture, transformation and gene editing of maize (Zea mays L.). The Plant Genome, 18, Article e20451. https://doi.org/10.1002/tpg2.20451

Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture. (2025). Operational guidelines 2025. Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India. https://nhb.gov.in/writereaddata/MIDH_Guidelines.pdf

Mosa, K. A., Gairola, S., Jamdade, R., El-Keblawy, A., Al Shaer, K. I., Al Harthi, E. K., Shabana, H. A., & Mahmoud, T. (2019). The promise of molecular and genomic techniques for biodiversity research and DNA barcoding of the Arabian Peninsula flora. Frontiers in Plant Science, 9, Article 1929. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2018.01929

Murashige, T., & Skoog, F. (1962). A revised medium for rapid growth and bioassays with tobacco tissue cultures. Physiologia Plantarum, 15(3), 473–497.

Narra, M., Ray, A., Polley, B., Yang, H., & Bhowmik, P. K. (2025). AI-driven advances in plant biotechnology: Sharpening the edge of plant tissue culture and genome editing. Frontiers in Plant Science, 16, Article 1718810. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2025.1718810

National Certification System for Tissue Culture Raised Plants. (2019). NCS-TCP guidelines (4th rev., April 16, 2019). Department of Biotechnology, Government of India. https://dbtncstcp.nic.in/doc/NCS-TCP-Guidelines-4th-Revision-on-April-16-2019.pdf

National Certification System for Tissue Culture Raised Plants. (2026a). NCS-TCP home page: Impact of NCS-TCP [Website]. Department of Biotechnology, Government of India. Retrieved September 29, 2026, from https://dbtncstcp.nic.in/

National Certification System for Tissue Culture Raised Plants. (2026b). Recognised TCPFs: State-wise listings (Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu) [Website]. Department of Biotechnology, Government of India. Retrieved September 29, 2026, from https://dbtncstcp.nic.in/Maharashtra; https://dbtncstcp.nic.in/Gujarat; https://dbtncstcp.nic.in/Karnataka; https://dbtncstcp.nic.in/Tamil-Nadu

National Certification System for Tissue Culture Raised Plants. (2026c). Tissue culture standards [Website]. Department of Biotechnology, Government of India. Retrieved September 29, 2026, from https://dbtncstcp.nic.in/tcs.html

Negi, S., Singh, P., Trivedi, V. L., Rawat, J. M., & Semwal, P. (2024). The current trends and research progress globally in the plant tissue culture: 90 years of investigation. Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture, 157(3), Article 73. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11240-024-02788-4

Ogutu, S. O., & Qaim, M. (2019). Commercialization of the small farm sector and multidimensional poverty. World Development, 114, 281–293. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.10.012

Pasternak, T. P., & Steinmacher, D. (2024). Plant growth regulation in cell and tissue culture in vitro. Plants, 13(2), Article 327. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13020327

Patil, S. M., Chandana Kumari, V. B., Sumana, K., Sujay, S., Tejaswini, M., Shirahatti, P. S., & Ramu, R. (2021). Sustainable development of plant tissue culture industry: The Indian scenario. Journal of Applied Biology & Biotechnology, 9(2), 18–27. https://doi.org/10.7324/JABB.2021.9202

Prakash, J. (2006). Micropropagation industry in India: Biology and business. Acta Horticulturae, 725, 293–300. https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2006.725.36

Press Information Bureau. (2022). Centre pushes for increased exports of tissue culture plants; offers help to exporters to access new markets. Government of India. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1823643

Rogo, U., Fambrini, M., & Pugliesi, C. (2023). Embryo rescue in plant breeding. Plants, 12(17), Article 3106. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12173106

Salunkhe, P., Mahajan, M., Pradeep, Sharma, V., & Trivedi, D. (2022). Commercialisation of plant tissue culture in India: A review. Asian Biotechnology and Development Review, 24(2), 27–42.

Sen, J., & Sharma, A. K. (1991). Micropropagation of Withania somnifera from germinating seeds and shoot tips. Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture, 26(2), 71–73. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00036108

Sharma, S., & Thokchom, R. (2014). A review on endangered medicinal plants of India and their conservation. Journal of Crop and Weed, 10(2), 205–218.

Tiwari, K. N., Tiwari, V., Singh, J., Singh, B. D., & Ahuja, P. (2012). Synergistic effect of trimethoprim and bavistin for micropropagation of Bacopa monniera. Biologia Plantarum, 56(1), 177–180.

Wawrosch, C., & Zotchev, S. B. (2021). Production of bioactive plant secondary metabolites through in vitro technologies: Status and outlook. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 105, 6649–6668. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-021-11539-w

Zuzarte, M., Salgueiro, L., & Canhoto, J. (2024). Plant tissue culture: Industrial relevance and future directions. Advances in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology, 188, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1007/10_2024_254

Indexing In

Crossref
Openalex

Types of Books We Publish

Editorial Books
Explore →
Full Books
Explore →
Volume Series
Explore →
Conference Proceedings
Explore →

Uniqueness of our Publication
DOI
DOI Assignment
ISBN
ISBN Registration
Global
Online Publication
Visibility
High Visibility
Open Access
Open & Closed Access

PDF Download