Micropropagation of Date Palm: A Review

Somatic embryogenesis and organogenesis are the two pathways of choice for rapid and large-scale propagation of date palm. They have been successfully used for the micropropagation of elite genotypes and have proved their effectiveness for the commercial production of many cultivars. Nevertheless, regeneration through somatic embryogenesis or organogenesis in date palm is still difficult to achieve for recalcitrant genotypes and is often hampered by certain physiological disorders. In the present review, we report the results of a number of studies carried out on date palm micropropagation. It also describes different factors that influence each stage of somatic embryogenesis and organogenesis and the main problems encountered during these two micropropagation processes.