Dr. Bhagyashree Patil, Chairman and Managing Director of Rise N Shine Biotech Pvt. Ltd., Pune, Maharashtra, shares her experiences in the production of tissue culture plants.
Rise n Shine Biotech Pvt. Ltd is India’s largest ISO 9001-2015 certified plant tissue culture Company at Pune, Maharashtra, India.
Since its inception in 2004, Rise n Shine has registered a significant presence in multiple segments like Biotechnology, Floriculture, and Horticulture & Exotic Plant Nursery.
"In 1999, we began considering venturing into agriculture on our land in Pune. I started visualizing agriculture through a scientific lens. Initially, it was challenging with fewer workers, and we started by producing vegetables on the land gifted by my husband, Dr. P.D. Patil. I wondered why the farm wasn’t yielding well and realized we weren’t getting quality planting material. To improve market standards and support society and the country, I decided to help farmers with high-quality planting materials. We first initiated banana plant production using the tissue culture method.
In 2003-2004, we faced difficulties in getting good planting material. I decided to learn about tissue culture, and we started on a small area of about 400 sq. ft. With dedication, devotion, and technical support from our staff, the plants began to thrive. Initially, we produced 40% of our banana plants, but the first year was a failure, with about 15,000 plants discarded due to poor quality. From the second year onwards, we produced good quality plants, and there was no looking back. Today, we produce about 3 crore banana plants per year, supplying farmers across India and exporting internationally.
In 2003, I also stepped into producing floriculture plants. Initially, we struggled to find good planting materials until we connected with a company in Holland. It was challenging to collaborate with them due to stringent policies for 3 years of our trial, but once convinced of our capabilities, we formed a successful partnership. Today, we have many collaborators and have expanded from 400 sq. ft. to a 280,000 sq. ft. laboratory with a DSIR-certified R&D department.
Our world-class infrastructure spans 150 hectares at Theur, with a capacity to produce over 45 million plants per year. This includes a 280,000 sq. ft. ultramodern tissue culture laboratory, 2,20,000 sq. mt. of greenhouses, polyhouses, and shed nets. Our polyhouse, spread over 1,20,000 sq. mt. at Kunjirwadi, showcases our exclusive plants and products.
With approximately 1500 staff, we produce a variety of Tissue Culture plants, including bananas, floriculture plants, ornamental plants, and fruit plants. Our R&D department is continuously developing new protocols.
Our horticulture vertical has been certified by National Research station for Banana and Department of Biotechnology, Government of India (DBT). We are a leading name in horticulture company in Pune,India as our banana propagations have helped for best quality yield, virus free banana plantations in several hectors of land.
We have exported our Banana Plants and we supply our tissue culture Banana Plants all over Indian including the drought-affected regions of Maharashtra, we supply banana plants and collaborate with NGOs to provide plants at no profit, no loss basis. We've adopted technologies from Israel for Clumps and from Portugal for floriculture, adapting them to Indian conditions. With devotion, dedication, and determination, we’ve succeeded in producing over 45 million plants per year to support farmers and exported to near 45 countries.
On the floriculture front, we supply young plants of gerbera, orchids, carnation, gypsophila, Limonium, and chrysanthemum, and have collaborations with various companies.
We are the first in floriculture to have our own breeding line to breed the best, in Gerbera varieties in India!
Our area of competence is providing our esteemed clients both domestically and abroad with technical support in cultivation along with supplying young plants produced in our facility.
Rise n Shine focuses on providing integrated solutions in the required area to accelerate the progress of Biotechnology for production of all kind of Tissue culture Plants.
Theur is the hub of Rise ‘n Shine Biotech Pvt. which is home to the “Ashtvinayak Temple dedicated to Lord Ganesh” – the local ecosystem was solely dependent on the Cooperative Sugar Factory. After the closure since 2011 the local population has suffered unemployment which has impoverished the local population and adversely effected households. The rapid successes of “Rise ‘n Shine” has given employment to a large women workforce which has uplifted large sections of the area with direct benefit to approx 10-12 villages in and around theur village. We strongly support the notion of women empowerment and our 85% staff is female.
As part of our CSR activities, we provide regular medical checkups, yoga sessions, and distribute books to employees' children and villagers. The support of our laborers and staff, who work with us as a family, has been instrumental in our success.
On the floriculture front, we have gerbera, orchids, carnation, gypsophila, Limonium, and chrysanthemum as main flowering plants. We use tissue culture for most of them, and we have collaboration with different companies for each type. The most widely grown flowering plant in India is Gerbera after Roses. It is a flower with different range of colours, used for floral arrangements, and they are used as cut flowers. They can grow well in Indian climatic and topographic conditions. We have many varieties that have good demand in markets such as Livia, Petali, Haimi, Perola, Shanthi, and Break Dance which are grown well in Indian conditions are helpful to farmers. Most of the varieties are grown by our company, and we are following the technology as in other countries which is very helpful to the farmers to get good income and demand in the market. The plant population density per acre is about 24 thousand plants with economic life of 3 to 4 years. Once harvested, they are packed in covers and boxes, taken to the market, and sold there. We have round the year demand for these flowers and good price in the market.
Next comes carnation flowers. It is a cut flower variety, grown in high altitude areas successfully. We import mother plants from a company in Holland, produce cuttings from the mother plants and supply to the farmers. They get a good opportunity to grow different varieties. Carnation can be grown in high altitude areas successfully like Himachal Pradesh and Ooty, where the temperature is low. We can grow them in plains also like Bangalore and Pune. The plant density is about 80 thousand plants per acre, and life span is 3 years.
Dendrobium orchid is used for arrangement of bouquet, decoration and functions. These can be exported because of the high quality we get in India. It can be grown in all climatic conditions, but they need high humidity and low intensity light. Currently 60% of the total requirement of orchid flowers is imported from Thailand, Singapore, and China. So we have good scope to grow them and supply to the Indian market. The farmers can get good price when they grow them compared to the expense of importing them. Local flowers of good quality can fetch good price and demand in the market. We have many varieties grown commercially. Various colours such as Sonia Red, White 5 N,Burana Jade and Aiyaara Pink are grown widely. They can be grown in polyhouses. The black colour shadenet is used inside polyhouse for shading effect for a good growth. We grow them in soilless media like Cocoshell and Charcoal. The roots are hanging for more aeration. In India Coconut husk is a good medium which is available in plenty at low cost. The plants can be grown at a spacing 20 x 20 cm distance with 4 row plantation . Plant population is 40 thousand plants per acre. The economic life of the plant is about 6 years and it is easy to maintain. Farmers with less means can grow them and get good returns. After harvesting it can remain in normal condition for 10-15 days. Sonia Red and 5N white variety is widely accepted in market. In India, there are other varieties like Cattleya, Phalaenopsis, Mokara, Vanda, Cymbidiums, oncidium, and so on.
All these are grown in pot for commercial pot cultivation as well as a cut flower. The humidity should be more. For phalaenopsis, the day temperature should be 21 to 27 degrees and night 18 degree c. Mokara and Vanda can be used as cut flowers and pot flowers requiring the same climatic conditions. Cymbidiums can grow in cool temperature, they can thrive in bright and indirect light with humidity level at 40 to 70%. The North eastern part of India is suitable for growing cymbidiums. Oncidium can be grown in pots, and it is a new crop in Indian market and so has good demand as a new option. Climatic conditions is not very different from other orchids. Dendrobium Nobile is a pot plant and not a cut flower, it needs cooler temperature for good growth.
The Gypsophila plants are grown as cut flower and used in flower arrangements. It is a dense plantation requiring shade nets or polyhouses. Beautiful varieties are available. Limonium is available in different colours such as pink, blue, and white. We supply all these varieties. They can be grown in polyhouse or open field. We collaborate with companies in Holland for high quality varieties. The plant density is about 25000 plants in one acre with life of 2-3 years. People were thinking earlier that only strawberries can be grown in hills, but we have shown that they can be grown in any part of India and give good yield. We are doing excellent propagation of strawberry plants which has a good future in Indian and global market. The demand for berries is increasing. We have plans to bring in new varieties in India as there is scope for exporting. Berries will get 2 to 3 times more income than other plants with good technology and know-how. There is great potential to grow berries in India as there is good demand in India and abroad. With dedication, determination, and devotion for agriculture, we can achieve success. We should stop importing from other countries, produce our own good quality products, and do the needful. With digital technologies, youngsters can do better than we do traditionally. So we have to keep striving hard.
How did you get involved first in tissue culture plant production? What types of tissue culture plants have you worked on? What techniques and protocols do you use for tissue culture propagation?
When we started planting banana plants in the field, I discovered that 60% of the plants were not of good quality and were not yielding uniformly. This realization motivated us to help farmers obtain high-quality planting materials. Our aim was to prevent crop loss and support Indian farmers in achieving better income. This challenge inspired me to get involved with tissue culture plants.
We have worked on a variety of tissue culture plants, including bananas, pomegranates, pineapples, ornamental plants, and more than 60 varieties of floriculture plants. Our R&D team is dedicated to developing high-quality plants. For banana plants, we source good mother plants to obtain suckers. From a single sucker, we can produce 250 high-quality plants.
The process involves several stages, starting with cleaning and initiation, followed by precision and rooting stages. Once the plants are ready, they undergo a hardening phase before being distributed to farmers. This entire process, from initiation to delivery to farmers, takes about one and a half years.
Our meticulous protocols and advanced techniques ensure that the plants we produce are of the highest quality, providing farmers with reliable and productive planting materials. This approach not only helps farmers achieve better yields but also supports their economic well-being.
Have you worked with any specific plants species that presented unique challenges?What are the key benefits of using tissue culture plants in agriculture, and how can farmers maximise their advantages?
Yes, we are working with ornamental crops using organic methods, as well as with floriculture and medicinal plants. In traditional farming methods, fruits on plants mature at different times, requiring multiple harvests. However, with tissue culture methods, fruits mature simultaneously, depending on the plant variety. This allows us to harvest all at once and send them to the market within eight days, ensuring a quicker return.
In traditional methods, each bunch matures at different times, prolonging the harvesting period. With tissue culture, we achieve uniform maturation, enabling a single harvest and immediate market delivery. For ornamental and floriculture plants, tissue culture provides high-quality planting materials, ensuring better growth and yield
How do you ensure the sterility of the tissue culture environment?
Can you explain the basic steps in the production of tissue culture plants and equipment needed for small scale setup?
Our laboratory is well equipped to check the plants. We have quality checking people in our company to check for any issues with regard to sterility. We have to do the initiation first and to prepare the media, we need autoclaves, we have to wash the bottles thoroughly to prepare the media. It is scientifically prepared, and it is again autoclaved for specific period of time to avoid any contamination due to fungus or bacteria. Infected plants along with the bottles are discarded if we see any contamination . There are three stages in lab such as; initiation, multiplication and rooting which is observed in 2 months period. These rooted plants then despatched to greenhouse for hardening.
How can we maintain the health and quality of tissue culture plants throughout the production process? Any common issues or setbacks you have encountered?Are you familiar with any regulatory or quality control standards related to tissue culture plants?
There are supervisors who check the quality of the materials, and each plant is observed to take action if any problem is found. We also monitor it in hardening as well as at field level. We have quality coordinators on a day to day basis and get the feedback of the farmers. For cultivating elaichi banana, we have engineers who have studied agriculture and have good technical knowledge, , and they help the people all over India to get good crops. We check the quality from the beginning so that we can prevent any losses due to quality. We do virus testing of each plant to ensure they are of good quality. Yes, we have good sterile standards, and our office follows all regulations.
Dr. Bhagyashree Patil
Email info@risensine.in director@risenshine.in
Phone- 02066785700 , + 919146188919
Rise n Shine Biotech Pvt. Ltd is India’s largest ISO 9001-2015 certified plant tissue culture Company at Pune, Maharashtra, India.
Since its inception in 2004, Rise n Shine has registered a significant presence in multiple segments like Biotechnology, Floriculture, and Horticulture & Exotic Plant Nursery.
"In 1999, we began considering venturing into agriculture on our land in Pune. I started visualizing agriculture through a scientific lens. Initially, it was challenging with fewer workers, and we started by producing vegetables on the land gifted by my husband, Dr. P.D. Patil. I wondered why the farm wasn’t yielding well and realized we weren’t getting quality planting material. To improve market standards and support society and the country, I decided to help farmers with high-quality planting materials. We first initiated banana plant production using the tissue culture method.
In 2003-2004, we faced difficulties in getting good planting material. I decided to learn about tissue culture, and we started on a small area of about 400 sq. ft. With dedication, devotion, and technical support from our staff, the plants began to thrive. Initially, we produced 40% of our banana plants, but the first year was a failure, with about 15,000 plants discarded due to poor quality. From the second year onwards, we produced good quality plants, and there was no looking back. Today, we produce about 3 crore banana plants per year, supplying farmers across India and exporting internationally.
In 2003, I also stepped into producing floriculture plants. Initially, we struggled to find good planting materials until we connected with a company in Holland. It was challenging to collaborate with them due to stringent policies for 3 years of our trial, but once convinced of our capabilities, we formed a successful partnership. Today, we have many collaborators and have expanded from 400 sq. ft. to a 280,000 sq. ft. laboratory with a DSIR-certified R&D department.
Our world-class infrastructure spans 150 hectares at Theur, with a capacity to produce over 45 million plants per year. This includes a 280,000 sq. ft. ultramodern tissue culture laboratory, 2,20,000 sq. mt. of greenhouses, polyhouses, and shed nets. Our polyhouse, spread over 1,20,000 sq. mt. at Kunjirwadi, showcases our exclusive plants and products.
With approximately 1500 staff, we produce a variety of Tissue Culture plants, including bananas, floriculture plants, ornamental plants, and fruit plants. Our R&D department is continuously developing new protocols.
Our horticulture vertical has been certified by National Research station for Banana and Department of Biotechnology, Government of India (DBT). We are a leading name in horticulture company in Pune,India as our banana propagations have helped for best quality yield, virus free banana plantations in several hectors of land.
We have exported our Banana Plants and we supply our tissue culture Banana Plants all over Indian including the drought-affected regions of Maharashtra, we supply banana plants and collaborate with NGOs to provide plants at no profit, no loss basis. We've adopted technologies from Israel for Clumps and from Portugal for floriculture, adapting them to Indian conditions. With devotion, dedication, and determination, we’ve succeeded in producing over 45 million plants per year to support farmers and exported to near 45 countries.
On the floriculture front, we supply young plants of gerbera, orchids, carnation, gypsophila, Limonium, and chrysanthemum, and have collaborations with various companies.
We are the first in floriculture to have our own breeding line to breed the best, in Gerbera varieties in India!
Our area of competence is providing our esteemed clients both domestically and abroad with technical support in cultivation along with supplying young plants produced in our facility.
Rise n Shine focuses on providing integrated solutions in the required area to accelerate the progress of Biotechnology for production of all kind of Tissue culture Plants.
Theur is the hub of Rise ‘n Shine Biotech Pvt. which is home to the “Ashtvinayak Temple dedicated to Lord Ganesh” – the local ecosystem was solely dependent on the Cooperative Sugar Factory. After the closure since 2011 the local population has suffered unemployment which has impoverished the local population and adversely effected households. The rapid successes of “Rise ‘n Shine” has given employment to a large women workforce which has uplifted large sections of the area with direct benefit to approx 10-12 villages in and around theur village. We strongly support the notion of women empowerment and our 85% staff is female.
As part of our CSR activities, we provide regular medical checkups, yoga sessions, and distribute books to employees' children and villagers. The support of our laborers and staff, who work with us as a family, has been instrumental in our success.
On the floriculture front, we have gerbera, orchids, carnation, gypsophila, Limonium, and chrysanthemum as main flowering plants. We use tissue culture for most of them, and we have collaboration with different companies for each type. The most widely grown flowering plant in India is Gerbera after Roses. It is a flower with different range of colours, used for floral arrangements, and they are used as cut flowers. They can grow well in Indian climatic and topographic conditions. We have many varieties that have good demand in markets such as Livia, Petali, Haimi, Perola, Shanthi, and Break Dance which are grown well in Indian conditions are helpful to farmers. Most of the varieties are grown by our company, and we are following the technology as in other countries which is very helpful to the farmers to get good income and demand in the market. The plant population density per acre is about 24 thousand plants with economic life of 3 to 4 years. Once harvested, they are packed in covers and boxes, taken to the market, and sold there. We have round the year demand for these flowers and good price in the market.
Next comes carnation flowers. It is a cut flower variety, grown in high altitude areas successfully. We import mother plants from a company in Holland, produce cuttings from the mother plants and supply to the farmers. They get a good opportunity to grow different varieties. Carnation can be grown in high altitude areas successfully like Himachal Pradesh and Ooty, where the temperature is low. We can grow them in plains also like Bangalore and Pune. The plant density is about 80 thousand plants per acre, and life span is 3 years.
Dendrobium orchid is used for arrangement of bouquet, decoration and functions. These can be exported because of the high quality we get in India. It can be grown in all climatic conditions, but they need high humidity and low intensity light. Currently 60% of the total requirement of orchid flowers is imported from Thailand, Singapore, and China. So we have good scope to grow them and supply to the Indian market. The farmers can get good price when they grow them compared to the expense of importing them. Local flowers of good quality can fetch good price and demand in the market. We have many varieties grown commercially. Various colours such as Sonia Red, White 5 N,Burana Jade and Aiyaara Pink are grown widely. They can be grown in polyhouses. The black colour shadenet is used inside polyhouse for shading effect for a good growth. We grow them in soilless media like Cocoshell and Charcoal. The roots are hanging for more aeration. In India Coconut husk is a good medium which is available in plenty at low cost. The plants can be grown at a spacing 20 x 20 cm distance with 4 row plantation . Plant population is 40 thousand plants per acre. The economic life of the plant is about 6 years and it is easy to maintain. Farmers with less means can grow them and get good returns. After harvesting it can remain in normal condition for 10-15 days. Sonia Red and 5N white variety is widely accepted in market. In India, there are other varieties like Cattleya, Phalaenopsis, Mokara, Vanda, Cymbidiums, oncidium, and so on.
All these are grown in pot for commercial pot cultivation as well as a cut flower. The humidity should be more. For phalaenopsis, the day temperature should be 21 to 27 degrees and night 18 degree c. Mokara and Vanda can be used as cut flowers and pot flowers requiring the same climatic conditions. Cymbidiums can grow in cool temperature, they can thrive in bright and indirect light with humidity level at 40 to 70%. The North eastern part of India is suitable for growing cymbidiums. Oncidium can be grown in pots, and it is a new crop in Indian market and so has good demand as a new option. Climatic conditions is not very different from other orchids. Dendrobium Nobile is a pot plant and not a cut flower, it needs cooler temperature for good growth.
The Gypsophila plants are grown as cut flower and used in flower arrangements. It is a dense plantation requiring shade nets or polyhouses. Beautiful varieties are available. Limonium is available in different colours such as pink, blue, and white. We supply all these varieties. They can be grown in polyhouse or open field. We collaborate with companies in Holland for high quality varieties. The plant density is about 25000 plants in one acre with life of 2-3 years. People were thinking earlier that only strawberries can be grown in hills, but we have shown that they can be grown in any part of India and give good yield. We are doing excellent propagation of strawberry plants which has a good future in Indian and global market. The demand for berries is increasing. We have plans to bring in new varieties in India as there is scope for exporting. Berries will get 2 to 3 times more income than other plants with good technology and know-how. There is great potential to grow berries in India as there is good demand in India and abroad. With dedication, determination, and devotion for agriculture, we can achieve success. We should stop importing from other countries, produce our own good quality products, and do the needful. With digital technologies, youngsters can do better than we do traditionally. So we have to keep striving hard.
How did you get involved first in tissue culture plant production? What types of tissue culture plants have you worked on? What techniques and protocols do you use for tissue culture propagation?
When we started planting banana plants in the field, I discovered that 60% of the plants were not of good quality and were not yielding uniformly. This realization motivated us to help farmers obtain high-quality planting materials. Our aim was to prevent crop loss and support Indian farmers in achieving better income. This challenge inspired me to get involved with tissue culture plants.
We have worked on a variety of tissue culture plants, including bananas, pomegranates, pineapples, ornamental plants, and more than 60 varieties of floriculture plants. Our R&D team is dedicated to developing high-quality plants. For banana plants, we source good mother plants to obtain suckers. From a single sucker, we can produce 250 high-quality plants.
The process involves several stages, starting with cleaning and initiation, followed by precision and rooting stages. Once the plants are ready, they undergo a hardening phase before being distributed to farmers. This entire process, from initiation to delivery to farmers, takes about one and a half years.
Our meticulous protocols and advanced techniques ensure that the plants we produce are of the highest quality, providing farmers with reliable and productive planting materials. This approach not only helps farmers achieve better yields but also supports their economic well-being.
Have you worked with any specific plants species that presented unique challenges?What are the key benefits of using tissue culture plants in agriculture, and how can farmers maximise their advantages?
Yes, we are working with ornamental crops using organic methods, as well as with floriculture and medicinal plants. In traditional farming methods, fruits on plants mature at different times, requiring multiple harvests. However, with tissue culture methods, fruits mature simultaneously, depending on the plant variety. This allows us to harvest all at once and send them to the market within eight days, ensuring a quicker return.
In traditional methods, each bunch matures at different times, prolonging the harvesting period. With tissue culture, we achieve uniform maturation, enabling a single harvest and immediate market delivery. For ornamental and floriculture plants, tissue culture provides high-quality planting materials, ensuring better growth and yield
How do you ensure the sterility of the tissue culture environment?
Can you explain the basic steps in the production of tissue culture plants and equipment needed for small scale setup?
Our laboratory is well equipped to check the plants. We have quality checking people in our company to check for any issues with regard to sterility. We have to do the initiation first and to prepare the media, we need autoclaves, we have to wash the bottles thoroughly to prepare the media. It is scientifically prepared, and it is again autoclaved for specific period of time to avoid any contamination due to fungus or bacteria. Infected plants along with the bottles are discarded if we see any contamination . There are three stages in lab such as; initiation, multiplication and rooting which is observed in 2 months period. These rooted plants then despatched to greenhouse for hardening.
How can we maintain the health and quality of tissue culture plants throughout the production process? Any common issues or setbacks you have encountered?Are you familiar with any regulatory or quality control standards related to tissue culture plants?
There are supervisors who check the quality of the materials, and each plant is observed to take action if any problem is found. We also monitor it in hardening as well as at field level. We have quality coordinators on a day to day basis and get the feedback of the farmers. For cultivating elaichi banana, we have engineers who have studied agriculture and have good technical knowledge, , and they help the people all over India to get good crops. We check the quality from the beginning so that we can prevent any losses due to quality. We do virus testing of each plant to ensure they are of good quality. Yes, we have good sterile standards, and our office follows all regulations.
Dr. Bhagyashree Patil
Email info@risensine.in director@risenshine.in
Phone- 02066785700 , + 919146188919