A team of researchers of the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) and the Valencian Institute of Agricultural Research (IVIA) have obtained pepper plants with increased resistance to drought and salinity.
The results of this study, which pave the way for improvements in the business performance of the pepper sector, have been recently published by the Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment and the Journal of Plant Physiology.
According to the researchers, the key lies in grafting the desired varieties on genotypes resistant to these stress situations, which have a direct impact on the quality of the final product, as well as their market performance. To achieve this, the UPV and IVIA researchers evaluated forty different pepper genotypes, both commercial and wild varieties, from which the most apt were selected and tested.
New hybrids
The researchers are also working in the development of new hybrid varieties from the tolerant genotypes in order to obtain patterns combining the best properties each has to offer.
The researchers are also working in the development of new hybrid varieties from the tolerant genotypes in order to obtain patterns combining the best properties each has to offer.
The first generation of hybrids has already been tested and some of them have shown an excellent performance.
Resistance to the most common illnesses is also being evaluated, to make it possible to grow peppers in soils affected by such pathologies without the need to disinfect it and consequently make the crop's cultivation more sustainable.
Source: hortoinfo.es
