Grafting Watermelons Crop - Non Chemical Methyl Bromide Alternative in Romanian Horticulture.

In Romania, the watermelons represent one of the most popular crop. The watermelons crop is particularly sensitive to the attack by soil diseases and nematodes. Since crop rotation is rarely adopted, the reduction of yield, both in quantity and quality, progressively affects the crops, thus making necessary the adoption of soil disinfestations practices or, other methods. The treatment of soil with methyl bromide was used only by large commercial farmers (107.72 tons methyl bromide in 2003). Since the adhesion to the Montreal Protocol, Romania government decided to phase out methyl bromide use starting 2005. Results of the demonstrative plots (MAKIS-project) obtained in 2009 indicated for the Romanian conditions, the following methyl bromide alternatives were suitable for soil disinfestation: metham sodium (chemicals methods), and grafting watermelons (non-chemical method). Grafting watermelons cultivars with high quality and productivity on rootstocks that are resistant to the soil pests and diseases is a method known for years ago, but which was improved and quickly spread in the last years. The main result of the grafting process is the increase of the resistance against soil diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]