Resistance of bitter gourd-loofah grafts to Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. momordicae and their yield

Resistance of bitter gourd-loofah grafts to Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. momordicae and their yield

1998

A:PS

The development of a cultivation method for bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) to control Fusarium wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. momordicae (FOM) was investigated. Cleft grafting to a loofah (Luffa aegyptiaca) rootstock was adopted. FOM can only infect bitter gourd and summer squash but not other cucurbits which have the potential to be used as resistant rootstocks for bitter gourd. Grafting experiments showed that among the various cucurbit plants tested, only pumpkin, bottle gourd and loofah could be used as rootstock for successful grafting with bitter gourd. Loofah was not only the best candidate for rootstocks by having the highest survival rate in plastic houses and displaying vigorous growth in the field but also showed high resistance to the wilt pathogen even when inoculated by the artificial root-pruning method. For 3 years of field cultivation, the combination of bitter gourd scion (variety Known You New No. 3) cleft grafted to loofah rootstock (a local line L39) resulted in the highest bitter gourd yields (61-108 t/ha). In contrast, the non-grafted bitter gourd or seedlings grafted by whip root grafting resulted in yields between 0-24 t/ha.

v.40(2):121-132, PLANT PROTECTION BULLETIN [TW]

Research > Published Articles