Tissue Culture and Horizontal Agriculture for increasing Food Production

Tanzila Rahman, UAO, Ramu, Coxs Bazar

Tanzila Rahman

Amid escalating global pressures, enhancing agricultural and food output has emerged as a critical imperative. With the world population projected to reach nearly 10 billion by 2050, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that food production must increase by 60% to meet future demand.

Bangladesh, a densely populated and climate-vulnerable country, has embraced innovative techniques like tissue culture to boost crop yields and ensure food security.

Institutions such as the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) have successfully used tissue culture to propagate disease-free banana, potato, and orchid plants, significantly improving productivity and farmer income.

Similarly, horizontal agriculture—such as rooftop farming in Dhaka—has gained popularity, allowing urban dwellers to grow vegetables and herbs in limited spaces. Globally, countries like India and Kenya have also adopted tissue culture for crops like sugarcane and cassava, while Singapore has pioneered horizontal farming through high-tech urban farms that maximize space and efficiency. These examples highlight how combining biotechnology and spatial innovation can transform agriculture, making it more resilient, productive, and accessible across diverse landscapes.

Countries like Bangladesh, where land is scarce and climate change poses severe risks, need innovative solutions to ensure food security, farmer income, and resilience. Two promising approaches—tissue culture (micro propagation) and horizontal agriculture (urban/controlled farming systems such as hydroponics, aquaponics, and rooftop farming)—can play a transformative role.

Tissue Culture (Micro propagation)

Tissue culture is the invitro cultivation of plant cells, tissues, or organs under sterile conditions. It is widely applied in bananas, potatoes, sugarcane, orchids, and other highvalue crops.

How It Boosts Productivity

• Mass Propagation: Millions of identical, healthy plants can be produced quickly from a small tissue sample.

• Disease-Free Plants: Pathogen-free planting material reduces crop losses.

• Uniformity: Ensures consistent growth, yield, and quality across fields.

• Faster Breeding: Shortens breeding cycles by bypassing seed dormancy and incompatibility barriers.

• Stress Tolerance: Can be combined with biotechnology to develop drought-, salinity-, or pest-resistant varieties.

Example

In Bangladesh, tissue-cultured bananas and potatoes have shown 30–40% higher yields compared to conventional planting materials. India has also scaled tissue culture for sugarcane, while Kenya uses it for cassava, boosting both productivity and farmer incomes.

Horizontal Agriculture (Urban/Controlled Farming)

Horizontal agriculture refers to farming systems that spread crops across flat, controlled surfaces—such as rooftops, hydroponic beds, aquaponic tanks, or modular greenhouses. Unlike vertical farming, it maximizes underutilized horizontal spaces in urban and periurban areas.

How It Boosts Productivity

• Efficient Land Use: Utilizes rooftops, unused urban land, or periurban plots.

• Year-Round Production: Controlled environments allow continuous cropping regardless of season.

• Water Efficiency: Hydroponics and aquaponics use up to 90% less water than soil farming.

• Reduced Transport Costs: Produces food closer to consumers, cutting post-harvest losses.

• Diversification: Enables production of leafy greens, herbs, vegetables, and even fish in aquaponics systems.

Example

In Dhaka, rooftop hydroponic farms are already producing vegetables with higher yields per square meter than traditional soil farming. Singapore has pioneered similar urban farming systems, while the Netherlands has become a global leader in greenhouse-based horizontal agriculture.

Synergy: Tissue Culture + Horizontal Agriculture

When combined, these two approaches create a powerful model: • Tissue culture provides disease-free, high-yield seedlings.

• Horizontal/urban farming systems provide controlled environments for those seedlings to thrive.

• Together, they enable rapid scaling of safe, nutritious food production in both rural and urban areas.

For Bangladesh, this synergy could mean tissue-cultured banana or potato seedlings grown in periurban nurseries, and then distributed to rooftop hydroponic farms in Dhaka or greenhouse clusters in climate-stressed regions like Khulna.

Role of DAE in promoting Tissue Culture and Horizontal Agriculture The Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Bangladesh plays a crucial role in promoting tissue culture and horizontal agriculture to enhance food security and rural livelihoods. Through initiatives like Farmer’s Field Schools and Participatory Extension Methods, DAE empowers farmers to optimize land use, diversify crops, and adopt sustainable practices across available horizontal spaces. In tissue culture, DAE has established specialized labs in 48 districts to produce disease-free, high-yield seedlings of crops like banana, jackfruit, pineapple, and potato, aiming to boost commercial horticulture and employment. By collaborating with research institutions and expanding lab infrastructure, DAE strengthens capacity building and accelerates the adoption of modern biotechnology, contributing to climate resilience and poverty reduction across Bangladesh.

Conclusion

Tissue culture and horizontal agriculture address different but complementary stages of the food production chain. Tissue culture strengthens the planting material stage, ensuring farmers start with high-quality, disease-free seedlings.

Horizontal agriculture optimizes the farming system stage, making better use of space, water, and controlled environments. Together, they can help Bangladesh—and other countries facing similar challenges—achieve higher yields, improved food security, and greater climate resilience. By integrating these technologies into national agricultural strategies, nations can build a more sustainable and self-reliant food system for the future.

(Tanzila Rahman(BCS Agri) is Upazila Agriculture Officer (UAO), Ramu, Cox’s Bazar)