Resistant Rootstocks

Many vegetable crop varieties are susceptible to root-knot nematodes. However, a few varieties have nematode resistance, usually derived from related "wild' species. Getting the resistance from these wild species into commercial varieties can be a long and difficult process. To circumvent this, grafting commercial varieties onto rootstocks resistant to nematodes and/or other pathogens can be used in several vegetable crops and is commonly done in some Mediterranean and Asian countries. The main drawback of this approach is the increased cost of grafted transplants compared to seed or non-grafted transplants. However, with the rising costs of pesticides (e.g. nematicides) and the increasing demand and price for "organic" produce, grafting may become an economically viable option. We are intitiating research to determine the feasibility of grafting for the control of root-knot nematodes.