Cherry Rrootstocks
Cherry trees present a particular challenge because when grown on their own roots they are potentially the largest of all fruit trees, certainly much larger than wild apple trees. Fortunately recent research programmers have resulted in new rootstocks that produce smaller more manageable tress-useful for commercial growers and ideal for gardeners. These rootstocks should naturally inherit the biologic and morphologic characteristics of the original plant, they are equalized and could have a slower growth and induce earlier fruit bearing. But, the nurseries are not able to multiply surplus rootstocks of cherry as they face so many problems like, adequate land, diseases attack, irrigation and other environmental factors Vegetative propagation of Prunus species traditionally occurs by cuttings or grafting. In the latter case, farmers use suitable rootstocks to confer resistance against several kinds of abiotic and biotic stresses, keeping the desired characteristics of the cultivar in the scion. In Prunus, rootstocks are propagated by seeds or by cuttings. Propagation by seeds can generate a large amount of genetic variation in the rootstocks, affecting grafting efficiency and plant yield in the field. On the other hand, cuttings harvested from field plants can also reduce the efficiency of the grafting process and can spread diseases into the new plantations . It is evident, for both the industry and breeders that, tissue culture has the potential to produce rootstocks on a large scale faster than the traditional methods. Additionally, this technology can guarantee the production of genetically identical, physiologically uniform and pathogen-free plants at reasonable costs In vitro propagation is probably the most extended application of plant tissue culture in plants. It may be interpreted as a simple application of basic techniques to propagate plants under aseptic and controlled conditions; however, the reality is very different because there are several difficulties associated with optimal tissue culture propagation of any species. So to solve above problem different type and concentrations of growth regulators will be tried to achieve maximum multiplication rate and the best protocol for the establishment and multiplication of cherry rootstocks will be identified. In vitro raised plant lets will be hardened first in poly house for about 2-3 months than they will be transplanted to farmer’s fields for further assessment. Once each step will be standardized plant lets of cherry rootstock will be distributed to farmers which are involved in cherry growing.