Vegetable Grafting: Principles and Practices

Grafting is a vegetative propagation technique wherein the tissues of two plants are joined in order to continue their growth together. There are different techniques of grafting, namely, approach grafting, side grafting, splice grafting, saddle grafting, cleft grafting and flat grafting. The advantages of grafting include fast and large-scale production of desirable varieties of fruiting trees and flowering shrubs. Propagation methods such as layering and cutting are usually not successful for growing commercially significant plants but they can be grown easily using grafting. This horticulture technique is also used to overcome the issue of sexual incompatibility between two different species. It can be used for cloning a scion variety to maintain consistency of characters such as color, size and flavors. This book outlines the principles and practices of vegetable grafting. It will also provide interesting topics for research, which interested readers can take up. With the state-of-the-art inputs by acclaimed experts of this field, this book targets students and professionals.