Plant Biotechnology And

Plant genetic resources are the major biological basis of the world food security. In all means they support the livelihoods of every life on planet earth. Biodiversity is the store house and acts as a cushion against potentially dangerous environmental changes and economic reforms. Such a buffer is facing threat due to manmade and ecological disasters. Hence, conservation of Biodiversity is considered fundamental and provided priority in all sectors of global development. Traditional means of germplasm storage and conservation of plant genetic resources has been immensely useful and are not without drawbacks. Thus utilizing the biotechnological approaches towards the improvement of in situ and ex situ conservation programmes are becoming vital. Integrating biotechnology in plant conservation programmes is a prerequisite to achieve success in sustainability and to complement the existing technologies. In this context, the conservation of plants through in vitro propagation and inducing slow growth in some of the economically important and threatened plant of Southern Western Ghats is presented. During the last ten years of intensive research programmes we are able to develop in vitro protocol for rapid regeneration and establishment of plants in the field conditions for about thirty different species of this region.