Role of grafting in horticultural plants under stress conditions

The cultivation of grafted plants have gradually increased in the last years. As the use of this technique spread, the aims also expanded until today when grafting serves a spectrum of purposes: (1) to boost plant growth and development; (2) to control wilt caused by pathogens; (3) to reduce viral, fungal and bacterial infection; (4) to strengthen tolerance to thermal or saline stress; (5) to increase nutrient and mineral uptake to the shoot, etc. Throughout this review, we have examined the advantages of grafting plants for current agriculture, these being: resistance to evermore frequent soil diseases; tolerance of low temperatures characteristic of many latitudes of the world where intensive cultivation is economically important; tolerance to the growing problem of salinity from abuse of chemical fertilizers and desertification in many agricultural zones; and enhanced water and inorganic-nutrient uptake. All these advantages provide motivation for grafting in present-day world agriculture.