A recent study by Icrisat scientists in the Indian city of Hyderabad proved that vegetable grafting – joining a high-yielding scion to a stress-tolerant rootstock – paired with Naturally Ventilated Polyhouse (NVPH) cultivation offered a powerful and climate-smart way to boost productivity and income.
The research published in Frontiers in Agronomy, focussed on grafted tomato plants (scion onto Solanum torvum rootstock) grown under polyhouse conditions, comparing them with non-grafted controls in open fields. Results showed grafted tomatoes in NVPH yielded up to 63.8% more fruit, enjoyed 3–5 extra harvesting cycles, and exhibited larger leaf area, higher chlorophyll content, and greater environmental resilience.
Economic analysis revealed the highest gross and net returns—alongside superior benefit-cost ratios—under grafted NVPH systems, underscoring the technology's potential to enhance both farm profitability and resilience to climate variability.
Icrisat researchers highlight the technique's applicability for other vegetables and fruits like eggplant, chili, cucumber and melons. They believe that the quicj adoption of the technology, backed by policy support, public–private partnerships, and "farmer training, could transform lives of farmers across semi-arid tropics, improving nutrition, livelihoods, and food-system sustainability without genetic modification."
Read more at Telangana Today
