The Radiation Reinvigoration and The Paradigm Shift in Next-Generation Sugarcane Micropropagation

Micropropagation in sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) is widely employed for high-quality seed production. The acclimatization of micropropagated plantlets is a significant challenge in ensuring successful transplantation and robust growth. Acclimatization success is crucial for the viability of technology and its economy. Therefore, various priming technologies are utilized to increase the sustainability of the process. In this work, priming through irradiated chitosan served as an elicitor for multifaceted stress tolerance and sustainable growth in plants. Irradiation induced a drastic reduction in the molecular weight of chitosan by 10–20 times, thereby enhancing its solubility in water and facilitating improved efficacy with plant growth. Micropropagated sugarcane plantlets treated with 40 ppm electron beam-irradiated chitosan showed significant improvements in survival rates and various plant growth parameters during the acclimatization. It was observed that it also reduced the duration of the hardening cycle and decreased production costs. These findings underscore the efficacy of irradiated chitosan priming as a cost-effective strategy to optimize the hardening process of tissue culture plantlets, thereby enhancing seedling quality and productivity in sugarcane micropropagation.