2014 ASHS Annual Conference

Objective(s):
The objective of this workshop is to foster rootstock evaluation and breeding to serve sustainable production of grafted fruit and vegetable crops.

Grafting as a unique and effective tool has been widely used in fruit and vegetable production for improving crop health and productivity. Although the application of vegetable grafting is still limited in the United States, interest in grafted vegetables to address site-specific production challenges has been increasing recently. This workshop will serve as a forum to discuss the advances in rootstock development and the role of rootstock use in sustainable crop production. Research progress will be presented on rootstock selection and breeding for citrus and peach production to enhance resistance/tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses and to improve the overall production systems with regard to tree vigor and fruit yield and quality. A research update on watermelon and tomato grafting will also be provided with the emphasis on fruit quality and composition as affected by rootstocks, rootstock-scion interactions on Tomato mosaic virus resistance, assessment of a diverse range of rootstock-scion combinations, and grafted tomato production under different planting densities.