J. Hort. Sci. Vol. 1 (1): 24-27, 2006 Low cost strategy for micropropagation of Lilium Asiatic hybrid cv. Toscana R. Kaur, Neetu Thakur and D. R. Sharma Department of Biotechnology University of Horticulture & Forestry Nauni, Solan 173230 (H.P.), India E-mail: rkaur uhf@rediffmail.com ABSTRACT A low cost protocol for in vitro propagation of Lilium cv. Toscana has been developed through incorporation of cost-effective media components. MS medium supplemented with 0.75 mg I* BAP (6-benzylaminopurine) and 0.5 mg 1' NAA (a-naphthalene-acetic acid) was prepared with tapioca granules, table sugar and tap water in different combinations in place of agar-agar, sucrose and distilled water, respectively. Culture medium containing all the cost effective components was found to be the best for in vitro establishment of cultures yielding 6.00 bulblets per explant and medium supplemented with tapioca granules as cost effective component was found to be the best for in vitro multiplication of bulblets giving 3.70 bulblets per in vitro formed bulblet five weeks from third subculture. Tapioca supplemented MS medium containing 1 mg I' NAA was significantly better than all the other modified media giving 86.62% in vitro rooting, 2.86 average root number and 4.60 cm average root length. For hardening of in vitro rooted bulblets, coco peat, peat moss and coco peat in combination with peat moss were found to be at par giving 100% survival. Key words: Lilium, micropropagation, low-cost strategy INTRODUCTION Lilium, a monocot belonging to the family Liliaceae, is one of the leading cut flowers of the world. It has become commercially important due to its bold, beautiful and fascinating form of flowers, long vase life and capacity to rehydrate after long transportation. Lilium is native to the Northern hemisphere and is widely distributed over China, South Canada, Siberia and extends upto Florida in USA. In India, Lilium is found in Nilgiri hills and in the Himalayan region. Lilium can be propagated by both sexual and asexual means. Most commercially grown cultivars are propagated through scaling, a technique which produces 3-4 bulbs from each bulbscale depending upon bulbscale size and variety. Though a bulb under ideal conditions may yield anywhere between 50 to 100 bulblets, this rate is far too low to meet the present day demand for planting material. Also, reduced vigour of bulbs with repeated cycles of vegetative propagation is reported which may be due to accumulation of soil borne diseases (Van Aartrijk and Blom-Bamhoom, 1983). Thus, mass propagation through tissue culture is needed for research and development of the Lilium industry. Cost effective micropropagation would facilitate commercialization of the technology. In this paper, we describe a rapid and low-cost protocol for micropropagation of Lilium using cheaper medium components. MATERIAL AND METHODS Bulbs of Lilium cv. Toscana were collected from a private nursery at Darang, Palampur (HP), India. Bulbscales were excised from mother bulbs of 12cm -14 cm diameter stored in saw dust at 5°C for six weeks after harvest. The scales were surface sterilized in 0.2% solution of bavistin (carbendazim) for 8-9 min., washed with sterile water and treated with 0.1% solution of HgCl^ for 3 min., followed by thorough washing with sterile water. For in vitro establishment of cultures, basal segment each of about Icm^ was excised from surface sterilized scales and inoculated onto standard MS medium (Murashige and Skoog, 1962) and MS medium modified by replacing sucrose, distilled water and agar-agar with table sugar, tap water (potable drinking water) and tapioca granules (Manihot esculentum), respectively (Table 1). MS medium (standard and modified) was supplemented with BAP (0.75 mg 1') and NAA (0.5 mgl-'). On formation of in vitro bulblets, these were separated and individually subcultured both on standard as