Worldwide status of micropropagation in date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L)

Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L) is a most potential fruit crop having high nutritional value for the arid and semiarid regions of the world and India. The slow nature of traditional vegetative method of propagation limits the expansion of cultivation of date palm on commercial scale. For commercial expansion there is a need for rapid mass multiplication of date palm which can be achieved by micropropagation techniques. In micropropagation there are two methods viz organogenesis and somatic embryogenesis. In these two methods organogenesis is dependent on potentiality of meristimatic tissue to form direct organs whereas in somatic embryogenesis somatic cells develop into somatic embryos and their germination. The present article summarizes the literature of micropropagation through organogenesis and somatic embryogenesis work in date palm.