Economic Analysis of Micropropagation of Dragon Fruit (Hylocereus undatus (Haw.) Britton and Rose)

Abstract

Cultivation of dragon fruit is rising in many topical and sub-tropical countries because of its high nutritional and medicinal values and is highly remunerative for the farmers. However, the supply of planting material is a bottleneck in meeting the increasing demand. With the upsurge in requirement for planting materials and the slow growth of the cactus, the conventional methods of stem cutting, which is the only source of acquiring planting materials at present, cannot meet the demand. Micropropagation which ensures the crop's clonal fidelity and availability of planting material throughout the year can be an alternative. Considering the higher cost of micropropagation, an economic analysis of in vitro regeneration for thousand plants was calculated and compared with the conventional stem cuttings. Cost of tissue cultured plantlets (Rs. 20.02) /plant) was found to be higher than the conventional method (Rs. 14.93 per plant). The major cost involved in micropropagation is attributed to the cost of skilled labours required for multiple sub-cultures, followed by the hardening media and tissue culture growth media. Nevertheless, the cost of tissue cultured plantlets is far lesser than the market price (Rs. 40/plant at university of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot). Hence, considering the clonality, uniformity and disease freeness of tissue cultured plantlets, micropropagation of dragon fruit may be considered feasible for both the producers and farmers. A further cost of production may be reduced with training skilled labours to improve their efficiency and other cheap sources of potting media may be explored.