FIELD PERFORMANCE OF SOMACLONAL VARIANTS OF PLANTAIN (MUSA SPP, AAB GROUP)

Four types of morphologic ally distinct somaclonal variants were ident ified in a population of False Horn plantain (Musa spp., AAB group) pl ants produced by in vitro shoot-tip culture. Field performance of thes e variants was compared with true-to-type plantain to evaluate their h orticultural traits. Significant variation was observed for plant and fruit maturity, leaf size, yield and its components, but not for leaf number, plant height, or suckering, Three of the four somaclonal varia nts were horticulturally inferior to the original clone from which the y were derived, Yields of these variants were very poor due to inflore scence degeneration or abnormal foliage. Only the 'French reversion' v ariant, which resembled an existing cultivar, outyielded the true-to-t ype clone. However, its fruit weight and size were lower, Somaclonal v ariation through micropropagation is of limited use in plantain improv ement as it mostly mimics naturally occurring variation along with the observed poor horticultural performance of somaclonal variants.