Grafts of Jatropha curcas L. MAP-08: Selection of grafting technique and its development in the field

Abstract

The multiplication of trees and shrubs of agri-food or industrial interest is a challenge not yet solved for many species. In this work, the development of grafted plants of Jatropha curcas was studied, after selection of the grafting procedure. Seedlings, from the same accession, developed from seeds of allogamous origin, with 2, 4 and 6 true leaves, were used as a graft carrier. The axillary meristems of adult plants (5 years) of J. curcas MAP-08 were used as a graft. The grafting techniques tested were: English type, T, chip, and V. Regardless of the age of the graft carrier, the grafted type V was 100% efficient, the rest were unsuccessful. After assuring the presence of leaf primordia, the plants resulting from the type V graft were transferred to the field. The growth of the plants (196 days) showed an inverse relationship with the age at which the graft was performed, and in all of them, the diameter of the graftholder was always more significant than that of the graft. The differences in the development of the grafts with 2 true leaves were statistically significant to that the grafts with 4 and 6 leaves. The time to flowering and fruiting of the grafts was also inverse to the age at which the grafting was performed.