Nghe An: Producing clean tomatoes grafted on eggplant rootstock

(Baonghean.vn) - The model of grafted tomato plants on eggplant roots grown on sandy coastal land in Dien Thanh, Dien Chau district (Nghe An) has many outstanding advantages compared to regular tomato varieties.

Dien Thanh Commune was allowed by Dien Chau District Agricultural Extension Station to test the grafted tomato variety on eggplant rootstock (the variety was brought back from the Central Fruit and Vegetable Research Institute) with an area of ​​2 sao, 3 households participated. Although it was just put into the test, the grafted tomato plant on eggplant rootstock was effective right from the first crop.

Grafted tomato plants bear a lot of fruit. Each plant produces 3 - 5 kg of fruit.

Mr. Nguyen Van Ta - Dien Thanh farmer said: In the trial season, my family planted half a pole of grafted tomato varieties and saw outstanding advantages. The grafted plants have overcome the green wilt and leaf curl diseases that often appear on tomato plants. Therefore, there is no need to spray pesticides. The roots of the eggplants should not be flooded by heavy rain. The cold spell last winter still kept the plants safe.

Although only planting half a sao with 650 trees, the first crop reached 1.4 tons of fruit with an average selling price of 15,000 VND/kg, the family earned over 20 million VND. The characteristics of this tomato plant are very delicious fruit, a lot of pulp. Freshly harvested fruit can stay fresh for more than 1 month. With such advantages, in the spring of 2016, Mr. Ta's family continued to plant another half sao.

Tomato plants grafted on eggplant rootstock.

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Lam, an agricultural extension officer of Dien Thanh commune, after sowing eggplant and tomato seeds in pots, the eggplant plants are over 12-15 cm high, the tomatoes have three to four leaves, and are 7-8 cm high, then grafting is carried out. When planted in the field, the grafted tomato variety has a plant height and number of leaves that is much higher than the non-grafted variety. The grafted plant grows quite well, the ability to fuse between the eggplant rootstock and the tomato graft is very good. In particular, the grafted variety has the ability to resist diseases better, especially leaf curl and wilt.

With a yield of 3 tons/sao, earning up to 450 million VND/ha, in the spring crop of 2016, Dien Thanh continued to be tested by the Agricultural Extension Station to expand the area to 6 sao. Mr. Thai Ba Gac - Hamlet 6, Dien Thanh said: "My family planted half a sao of tomato plants grafted on eggplant roots, the seedlings were provided by the commune. After 2 and a half months of planting, the plants were harvested, with a lot of fruit. After only 2 harvests of the first fruit, 1.5 quintals were harvested. This crop is cheaper but initially earned nearly 1 million VND. The products are harvested within 3 months, so half a sao is expected to earn tens of millions of VND".

In the winter crop of 2015, just half a pole of grafted tomato plants brought Nguyen Van Ta's family 20 million VND.

Grafted tomato plants use eggplant roots, so the plants are strong, grow well, can withstand flooding, and are resistant to wilt and leaf curl diseases. In addition, the plants produce many fruits, with a bright red color, lots of pulp, delicious, and a price about 1,000 VND/kg higher than regular tomatoes.

Thanks to its disease resistance, tomatoes grafted onto eggplant plants ensure food safety. This is a new variety that has been put into trial cultivation in Dien Chau but has shown outstanding advantages and economic efficiency, attracting the attention of many farmers.

Mai Giang