In vitro Cultivation of Trifolium Alexandrium L. as a Forage Crop for Sustainability of Pastoral Ecosystem

Abstract

Trifolium alexandrium L., commonly known as Berseem or clover, is an important leguminous winter fodder crop. In comparison to other legumes and grasses, clover provides forage with high nutritional value and quality. Hence, introduction of Berseem (clover) in existing pastoral ecosystem can provide value-added forage that can result in an increased level of animal production and simultaneously enhance stocking rates. Tissue culture is a technique through which we are able to preserve the germ plasm. The aim of this paper is to devise a method for in vitro culture of Berseem (clover) leading to subsequent applicability in propagation on a commercial scale thereby sustaining the pastoral ecosystem. An in vitro study was made on T. alexandrium using cotyledonary leaf, epicotyl, cotyledonary node with cotyledon, hypocotyl and root. Cotyledonary leaf was found to be the best responsive explant for callus initiation. It was found that in T. alexandrium, 100% of callus was produced after inoculating cotyledonary leaf explants on MS media supplemented with BAP (0.5 mg/L) and 2, 4-D (0.5 mg/L). This provides the nucleus stock for propagation of plants on a large scale, whenever necessary, and at the same time helps to preserve the germ plasm.

Keywords: Berseem clover, germ plasm, pastoral ecosystem, callus, explant