Opsomming

Description

Cleft grafting can be used to produce plants that are resistant to a number of pests and diseases and are often higher yielding than the original. Tomato seedlings can be easily grafted onto resistant root stock of the wild eggplant (Solanum sysimbrifolium) to produce a disease-resistant and commercially viable crop.

Some of Nepal's most lucrative vegetable cash crops, especially solanaceous crops such as tomato and eggplant, are particularly susceptible to attack by the root knot nematode, Meliodogyne spp, which costs Nepal's farmers millions of rupees in losses annually. In recent years, farmers found that this pest was becoming prevalent and that they could not control it permanently using either cheap or eco-friendly solutions. Researchers and development officers took up the challenge and found that grafting technology could successfully control not only the root knot nematode but also wilting disease. As a bonus, they also found that grafting can increase the yield potential of the plants and improve the overall productivity of the land.

Establishment / maintenance activities and inputs: Loam and silt loam soils with a pH of 6.0–7.0 are the most suitable for this type of cultivation. Grafting technology requires two plants: the scion and the rootstock. The scion is a detached shoot or twig containing buds from the desired woody plant. The rootstock is a plant with an established healthy root system, onto which a cutting or a bud from another plant is grafted. The scion seedlings are grown in raised solarized nursery beds, where care has been taken to see that the soil has been sterilised and all soil pests have been destroyed. Robust rootstock of wild eggplant (Solanum sysimbrifolium) is appropriate for tomato propagation. The rootstock seedlings are grown in multi cell trays and transplanted when they are 20–25 cm high and have a few leaves and a pencil thick stalk. Seeds for the rootstock seedlings are sown in March/April and are ready in 6–8 weeks; scion seeds are sown in April/May and are ready for grafting in 3–4 weeks. Both scion and rootstock plants should have achieved similar stalk thicknesses at the time of grafting. Cleft grafting is carried out and the grafted seedlings kept in polypots in a closed polyhouse for 7–10 days. Then the grafted seedlings are carefully transplanted to their permanent location. The grafted plants are watered the day after they are transplanted; the extent of watering depends on how moist the soil is and on local weather conditions. The field is mulched throughout the cropping period using straw and other farm biomass materials.

Location

Location: Arukharka -6, Syangja District, Nepal

No. of Technology sites analysed:

Geo-reference of selected sites

n.a.

Spread of the Technology: evenly spread over an area (approx. < 0.1 km2 (10 ha))

In a permanently protected area?:

Date of implementation:

Type of introduction

through land users' innovation
as part of a traditional system (> 50 years)
during experiments/ research
through projects/ external interventions

A farmer in Syngia showing tomato seedlings that have been grafted onto improved root stocks. (Purusottam Gupta)

Classification of the Technology

Main purpose

improve production
reduce, prevent, restore land degradation
conserve ecosystem
protect a watershed/ downstream areas – in combination with other Technologies
preserve/ improve biodiversity
reduce risk of disasters
adapt to climate change/ extremes and its impacts
mitigate climate change and its impacts
create beneficial economic impact
create beneficial social impact

Land use

Cropland
- Annual cropping

Water supply

rainfed
mixed rainfed-irrigated
full irrigation

Purpose related to land degradation

prevent land degradation
reduce land degradation
restore/ rehabilitate severely degraded land
adapt to land degradation
not applicable

Degradation addressed

chemical soil deterioration - Cn: fertility decline and reduced organic matter content (not caused by erosion)

biological degradation - Bp: increase of pests/ diseases, loss of predators

water degradation - Hs: change in quantity of surface water

SLM group

integrated pest and disease management (incl. organic agriculture)
improved plant varieties/ animal breeds

SLM measures

agronomic measures - A5: Seed management, improved varieties

Establishment and maintenance: activities, inputs and costs

Calculation of inputs and costs

Costs are calculated:
Currency used for cost calculation: NPR
Exchange rate (to USD): 1 USD = 72.0 NPR
Average wage cost of hired labour per day: n.a

Most important factors affecting the costs

All costs and amounts are rough estimates by the technicians and authors.

Establishment activities

Prepare the land (Timing/ frequency: None)
Prepare Scions (Timing/ frequency: None)
Prepare rootstock (Timing/ frequency: None)
Grafting (Timing/ frequency: None)
Transplant grafted Seedling (Timing/ frequency: None)

Establishment inputs and costs

Specify input	Unit	Quantity	Costs per Unit (NPR)	Total costs per input (NPR)	% of costs borne by land users
Labour
Prepare the land	persons/day	5.0	4.2	21.0	100.0
Equipment
Tools	unit	1.0	22.0	22.0	100.0
Plant material
Seeds	unit	1.0	28.0	28.0	100.0
Fertilizers and biocides
Fertilizer	unit	1.0	17.0	17.0	100.0
Compost/manure	unit	1.0	65.0	65.0	100.0
Pesticide	unit	1.0	21.0	21.0	100.0
Plant tonic	unit	1.0	7.0	7.0	100.0
Construction material
Polypot,grafting chamber etc	unit	1.0	225.0	225.0	100.0
Total costs for establishment of the Technology				406.0
Total costs for establishment of the Technology in USD				5.64

Maintenance activities

Both scion and rootstock seeds are watered after sowing. The seedlings are monitored and watered as needed. (Overall labor: 16 person days) (Timing/ frequency: None)
After transplanting, the grafted seedlings are watered the next day and twice weekly thereafter. As the plantlets mature, they are watered at 10-day intervals and the surface of the soil is mulched. The moisture level in the soil is monitored throughout the cropping period. (Timing/ frequency: None)
Top dressing with biofertilizers (N, P, K, and vesicular arbuscular mycorrhiza VAM) and bio-hume is applied to the root zone. (Timing/ frequency: None)

Maintenance inputs and costs

Specify input	Unit	Quantity	Costs per Unit (NPR)	Total costs per input (NPR)	% of costs borne by land users
Labour
Watering scion and rootstock	persons/day	16.0	4.25	68.0	100.0
Equipment
Electricity and water charger	unit	1.0	8.5	8.5	100.0
Plant material
Seeds	unit	1.0	68.0	68.0	100.0
Total costs for maintenance of the Technology				144.5
Total costs for maintenance of the Technology in USD				2.01

Natural environment

Average annual rainfall

< 250 mm
251-500 mm
501-750 mm
751-1,000 mm
1,001-1,500 mm
1,501-2,000 mm
2,001-3,000 mm
3,001-4,000 mm
> 4,000 mm

Agro-climatic zone

humid
sub-humid
semi-arid
arid

Specifications on climate

Thermal climate class: subtropics

Slope

flat (0-2%)
gentle (3-5%)
moderate (6-10%)
rolling (11-15%)
hilly (16-30%)
steep (31-60%)
very steep (>60%)

Landforms

plateau/plains
ridges
mountain slopes
hill slopes
footslopes
valley floors

Altitude

0-100 m a.s.l.
101-500 m a.s.l.
501-1,000 m a.s.l.
1,001-1,500 m a.s.l.
1,501-2,000 m a.s.l.
2,001-2,500 m a.s.l.
2,501-3,000 m a.s.l.
3,001-4,000 m a.s.l.
> 4,000 m a.s.l.

Technology is applied in

convex situations
concave situations
not relevant

Soil depth

very shallow (0-20 cm)
shallow (21-50 cm)
moderately deep (51-80 cm)
deep (81-120 cm)
very deep (> 120 cm)

Soil texture (topsoil)

coarse/ light (sandy)
medium (loamy, silty)
fine/ heavy (clay)

Soil texture (> 20 cm below surface)

coarse/ light (sandy)
medium (loamy, silty)
fine/ heavy (clay)

Topsoil organic matter content

high (>3%)
medium (1-3%)
low (<1%)

Groundwater table

on surface
< 5 m
5-50 m
> 50 m

Availability of surface water

excess
good
medium
poor/ none

Water quality (untreated)

good drinking water
poor drinking water (treatment required)
for agricultural use only (irrigation)
unusable

Water quality refers to:

Is salinity a problem?

Occurrence of flooding

Species diversity

high
medium
low

Habitat diversity

high
medium
low

Characteristics of land users applying the Technology

Market orientation

subsistence (self-supply)
mixed (subsistence/ commercial)
commercial/ market

Off-farm income

less than 10% of all income
10-50% of all income
> 50% of all income

Relative level of wealth

very poor
poor
average
rich
very rich

Level of mechanization

manual work
animal traction
mechanized/ motorized

Sedentary or nomadic

Sedentary
Semi-nomadic
Nomadic

Individuals or groups

individual/ household
groups/ community
cooperative
employee (company, government)

Gender

women
men

Age

children
youth
middle-aged
elderly

Area used per household

< 0.5 ha
0.5-1 ha
1-2 ha
2-5 ha
5-15 ha
15-50 ha
50-100 ha
100-500 ha
500-1,000 ha
1,000-10,000 ha
> 10,000 ha

Scale

small-scale
medium-scale
large-scale

Land ownership

state
company
communal/ village
group
individual, not titled
individual, titled

Land use rights

open access (unorganized)
communal (organized)
leased
individual

Water use rights

open access (unorganized)
communal (organized)
leased
individual

Access to services and infrastructure

Conclusions and lessons learnt

Strengths: land user's view

Strengths: compiler’s or other key resource person’s view

The technology is highly effective at controlling pests and disease.

How can they be sustained / enhanced? The wild eggplant rootstocks are somewhat difficult to graft because they are spiny. Spine-free rootstock seedlings would be easier to graft.
The grafted seedlings themselves are a good source of income for farmers.

How can they be sustained / enhanced? Create awareness among farmers and encourage nurseries to provide grafted seedlings. Support farmers during the start-up stage.

Weaknesses/ disadvantages/ risks: land user's viewhow to overcome

Weaknesses/ disadvantages/ risks: compiler’s or other key resource person’s viewhow to overcome

Grafting is time consuming and difficult because wild eggplant rootstock plants are spiny. Need more research to identify other possible rootstock plants.
Grafting can be expensive and requires an initial investment in training; specialized materials are needed. Technically demanding, needs practise. Specialized materials are difficult to get. Nurseries need to be supported and need to have access to specialized materials on time.

References

Compiler

Shreedip Sigdel

Editors

Reviewer

David Streiff
Alexandra Gavilano

Date of documentation: Aug. 14, 2015

Last update: Sept. 5, 2019

Resource persons

Shreedip Sigdel - SLM specialist
Purusottam Gupta - SLM specialist
KOMAL PRADHAN - SLM specialist

Full description in the WOCAT database

https://qcat.wocat.net/af/wocat/technologies/view/technologies_1694/

Linked SLM data

Approaches: Using the participatory market chain approach to help smallholder farmers market their produce https://qcat.wocat.net/af/wocat/approaches/view/approaches_2533/

Documentation was faciliated by

Institution

ICIMOD International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) - Nepal
iDE Nepal (iDE Nepal) - Nepal

Project

n.a.

Tomato Grafting (Nepal)