Micropropagation of Vetiver Grass (Vetiveria zizanoides L. Nash): A Potential Plant for Environmental Conservation

High frequency shoot multiplication was obtained from isolated shoot tips of vetiver grass (Vetiveria zizanoides L. Nash) cultured on Murashige and Skoog's basal medium supplemented with benzyladenine and a-naphthalene acetic acid. When different concentrations of benzyladenine (1,2 or 5 mgl-1) were tested, benzyladenine at 5 mgl-1 produced the highest average number of multiple shoots per explant. The regenerated shoots when isolated and cultured on half strength of MS medium supplemented with ?-naphthalene acetic acid (0.1mgl-1), roots were induced from the base of shoots and complete plants obtained. Starting from a single shoot, approximately 1000 plants were produced at the end of 12-14 weeks of culture. The plants were transferred to field without any acclimatization and 90% of them survived under field conditions. The present protocol holds promise for large scale multiplication of plants for potential application of environmental remediation.