GRAFTING FOR THE RECOVERY OF YELLOW PASSION FRUIT STEM IN ORGANIC SYSTEM

ABSTRACT The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of stem repair grafting on the recovery of damaged plants, yield and quality of yellow passion fruits in organic system. The experiment was conducted simulating five stem damages (treatments) in randomized complete block design with four replications of four plants each. After reaching on average 7.3 ± 1.2 mm in stem diameter, plants were perforated at 20, 40, 60 and 80% of the stem diameter with the aid of a steel drill. The reduction in plant stand treatment with 80 % damage reduces plant productivity. Then, bridge-type grafting was performed by connecting the top and bottom of the injury. The grafting success percentage ranged from 81.3 to 95.8% and did not differ between treatments, but the survival rate of plants was lower in treatments with 40 and 80% of injuries. There were no statistically significant differences between treatments for the following variables: number of fruits per plant, average fruit weight, total soluble solids (TSS), total titratable acidity (TTA) and (TSS/TTA) ratio. Recovery stem grafting allows injured plants to maintain the same productivity by up to 60% compared to plants without injuries.