Vegetable grafting unit inaugurated at farm university

Chief Secretary Dr Vivek Joshi said the vegetable grafting unit established by Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University at a cost of Rs 1.75 lakh will develop disease-free saplings of improved varieties of vegetables and make these available to the farmers of the state. It will help increase the production of vegetable crops and also increase the income of the farmers, he said.

The Chief Secretary inaugurated the newly constructed vegetable grafting unit at the university as the chief guest on Sunday. The programme was presided over by Vice- Chancellor Prof BR Kamboj.

The Chief Secretary said establishment of the unit would increase the income of the vegetable growers and chemical-free vegetables would also be available to the consumers. He said that due to the excessive use of pesticides in vegetables, the cost increased and the quality was also affected, but this could be avoided by using grafting techniques.

Unemployed and the farmers will be given training about grafting and also be encouraged to adopt it as a business. Kamboj said grafting was a unique horticultural technique, which was used to prevent nematodes and soil-borne diseases, to increase the plant's resistance according to different environmental conditions. Grafting was possible in brinjal, tomato, chilli, capsicum as well as cucurbitaceous vegetables like cucumber, tinda, watermelon and muskmelon etc. With this technique, tomato can be grafted on wild brinjal, capsicum on wild chilli in polyhouse to prevent soil and nematode-borne diseases. Also, cucumber could be protected from extreme cold/abiotic stress by grafting it on fig leaf gourd. This technique could help in preventing soil borne diseases, nematodes and abiotic stresses without the use of chemicals.

Millions of plants could be grown simultaneously through the grafting unit, which would benefit the farmers of other states, including Haryana in North India.

Grafting in vegetables enhance the quality also leads to extended harvest period, enhanced nutrient uptake, enhanced water uptake, multiple and/or successive cropping allowed, ornamental values for exhibition and education like brimato, pomato etc.

The grafting unit will help in solving the problems of the area like nematodes in protected cultivation, salinity or sodicity in Haryana pockets, fusarium or bacterial wilt in cucurbits and solanaceous vegetables along with increased vigour and yield in vegetable production with this technique, which is a chemical free (without need of nematicides/ fumigation free greenhouses) and eco-friendly for sustainable vegetable production. The farmers will be given training in grafting and unemployed youth will also be encouraged to adopt the method as an entrepreneur.