Araceli Guadalupe Mendieta Vazquez, who has a masters in Agronomic Sciences from the Autonomous University of Aguascalientes, carried out a research project to graft Chili and potatoes, which belong to the Solanaceae family.
According to Mendieta Vazquez, the great majority of grafts between plants in the world is carried out between tomatoes and eggplants; however, she said, it is necessary to discover other options for growing food due to the growing worldwide demand.
She also said that they had chosen domesticated potato and wild potato plants as rootstock for this project, and that the chilis were destined for the aerobic part of the graft.
They carried out 32 combinations with two kinds of potato, white and gúera, and the 16 most consumed varieties of chili: capsicum, annuum, pubescens, baccatum, and frutescens, which includes chili peppers, cora, guajillo, pasilla, and yellow peppers, among others.
The researcher said they had conducted the research in a greenhouse located in the facilities of the North Campus of the UAA, specifically in the Center for Agricultural Sciences.
One of the most relevant results was the grafting of the domesticated or white potato and the chili pepper, which allowed them to obtain a greater amount of fruit. Hence, this option could be studied more in future studies, Mendieta Vazquez said.
She also said there had been positive results with water chilli, cora, and yellow peppers, but that the quantity and size of the fruits and tubers did not meet the expectations of this scientific project.
Mendieta Vazquez added that it was imperative to conduct scientific research in the agricultural food area to give producers better work options, and that her research will have an impact on innovative practices for the benefit of the peasant sector.
Source: Notimex