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Chitra Phadnis

BANGALORE, Oct. 3

GREENEARTH Biotechnologies Ltd, a Bangalore-based tissue culture company, is planning to commercially launch a plant that can repel mosquitoes next month. The plant, Palergonium citrosa, has been imported from Australia and the company is in the process of multiplying it through tissue culture, Managing Director, Suresh J. Naidu, told Business Line.

All a user needs to do is buy one (or more, depending on the size of the room) potted Palergonium plant and keep it outdoors during daytime. At nighttime, the pot is to be brought in. When water is sprinkled on the leaves, it gives off an aroma that keeps mosquitoes away.

Internationally, this is a well-known mosquito repellant device, Naidu said. It is also patented in a number of countries. Interestingly, the plant has neither flowers nor seeds and cannot be propagated vegetatively either. "The only way to multiply is through tissue culture," he said.

Greenearth is emphasising the "herbal" nature of the cure. "Unlike other repellents, it has no harmful effects on human beings," Naidu said. "We are launching it in Bangalore first," he said.

The plants will be priced at Rs 100 each. Being a perennial, it is a one-time expense, Naidu said. "It will last as long good care is taken." The company plans to sell them directly to customers.

Greenearth Biotechnologies describes itself as an enviro-positive, eco-friendly, tissue culture company, with one of the largest tissue culture labs in the country catering to domestic and export markets. The company, which started with an initial capacity of 3 million plantlets per annum has now grown to almost double the capacity. It has an R&D laboratory, where starter cultures are prepared, plants are freed from virus and disease, and improvements in production protocols are made. The company also does extensive research to improve crops for higher yields and better produce.

Coincidentally, Bangalore University is celebrating Mosquito Day on Oct 4 and 5 with a two-day programme on mosquito control programmes in commemoration of the 105th year of Ronald Ross's discovery of mosquito as a carrier of malaria.

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