Banana plants grown through tissue culture in Patna. Picture by Ashok Sinha

Greens in the pink of health. That’s what the directorate of horticulture, under the state agriculture department, aims to achieve by helping non-government organisations set up plant health clinics and tissue culture laboratories.

The state, which neither has a plant health clinic nor a tissue culture laboratory, is eyeing the one-of-its-kind initiative. Both projects are part of the National Horticulture Mission. Sources in the horticulture department said advertisements inviting NGOs for the projects have already been published.

Talking about the concept of a plant health clinic, Dev Narayan Mahto, the district horticulture officer, Patna, said: “People facing trouble with crops, kitchen gardens, lawns, bonsais or other plant-related diseases can seek remedies from the clinic specialists. The clinics would advise people on pests and diseases of plants. People would have to bring leaves of the sick plant or soil to the clinic for testing. We would provide a subsidy of Rs 10 lakh to any NGO interested in the Rs 20-lakh project.”

Mahto said interested NGOs must fulfil some criteria. “The NGO must have experience of working in the field of agriculture and a scientist with a sound knowledge of agriculture who can advise on the plant diseases.”

On the need for plant health clinics in the state, Mahto said: “Like human beings, plants also suffer from many types of diseases, which a layman/farmer cannot know. The clinics would suggest them what to do in such conditions.”

Talking about the Rs 1-crore tissue culture project, Mahto said: “Various plants would be bred through tissue culture method in the laboratory. We would provide around Rs 50 lakh to the NGO interested in setting it up. The NGO must bear the rest of the expenditure.”

He added that the laboratory would benefit the state to a great extent. “By using the tissue culture method, production could be increased three to four times, even for banana plants and gerbera flowers. Once the culture lab starts, plants would be bred there. Farmers would get those at a low cost,” said Mahto.