Grafting in Cucurbitaceous Vegetables

Abstract

Grafting is practiced for a time immemorial on vegetatively propagated plants viz., fruits and ornamentals primarily to maintain the uniformity, vigor and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. Though grafting is an ancient technique, vegetable grafting is being gaining importance in recent years mainly to confront biotic and abiotic stresses. Grafting onto specific rootstock generally provides resistance to root knot nematodes and soil borne diseases viz., Fusarium wilt, Verticillium wilt and greater tolerance to thermal and salt stresses. Moreover, the rootstocks significantly influence the plant growth, yield and fruit quality parameters. Recently, the cultivation of grafted plants increased gradually in most of the Asian countries and currently brinjal, tomato, watermelons, cucumbers, bitter gourd, muskmelon and few vegetables were grafted before transplantation. In this stare, this paper summarizes the application and accomplishments of the grafting techniques in cucurbitaceous vegetables to mitigate several biotic stresses.