Question

Describe the steps followed in the artificial hybridisation program in plants technique.

Answer 1

• Choose parental plants with the desired features.
• If the female parent has bisexual flowers, remove the anthers from the flower bud with forceps before they dehisce. This phase, known as emasculation, involves transferring pollen from the male parent to the female parent's stigma.
• To prevent undesired pollen from contaminating the stigma of emasculated flowers, a butter paper bag is placed over them. This process is known as bagging.
• When the stigma of a bagged flower becomes receptive, ripe pollen grains gathered from the anthers of the targeted male parent are sprinkled on it.
• The blossoms are then rebagged, and the fruits are left to mature.