Contract research project on collection, evaluation, conservation and improvement of orchids

Abstract

Orchids, the largest group of flowering plants are known for their lovely blooms belong to the family orchidaceas. The orchids can be propagated through sexual as well as asexual methods. Orchids are found in all parts of the world-sandy deserts of Australia and Africa, frozen Alaska and high Himalayas and tropical rain forests of Brazil, Columbia, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, India and Bangladesh. About 90,000 species of these spectacular monocots occur worldwide. There is an urgent need for building up more germplasm bank with large scale programs of multiplication by conventional as well as modern tissue culture techniques by seed and meristem. i) Collection, Evaluation and conservation of local and exotic germplasm. ii) Selection of superior genotypes for cut flower through evaluation. iii) Improvement of production technology of orchids flower through different management practices. iv) Expansion of orchids flower through income and employment generation in the grass root farmers/land less farmers.