Description

FRUIT-VEGETABLE GRAFTING TECHOLOGY
(Bitter gourd, Sweet pepper and Tomato)

Grafting technology is not just for fruit trees! It is also being widely used for fruit-vegetables.

Fruit-vegetable grafting is a technique being done to physically combine the desirable characteristics of two separate plants into one. A grafted plant provides desirable traits of the scion (for yield and fruit characters) and rootstock (for soil-borne disease resistance, specifically bacterial and Fusarium wilt for solanaceous and cucurbits, respectively). Use of grafted seedlings leads to lower damage losses of 15-18% compared to 23-30% for non-grafted ones.

The BPI-LBNCRDPSC conducted studies on compatibility of scion and rootstock; use of different locally available materials for successful production of grafted seedlings; and identification of the most effective technique among several ones. The Center has also adopted the technology and is continuously promoting to farmers as an off-season technology, and for production of ready-to-plant seedlings for additional income generation.