Grafting as a tool for tolerance of abiotic stress

Vegetable crops are cultivated mainly in the field but also intensively under protected structures of greenhouses year-round or for several months. If the conditions are not as comprehensively controlled as they are in highly sophisticated greenhouses, such plants will frequently be subjected to poor and extreme environmental conditions. As a result, farmers frequently encounter various problems, particularly abiotic stress, and do not attain the yield potential of their crops. It is estimated that 60–70% of the gap from the actual to the potential yield is attributable to abiotic factors, such as salinity, drought, non-optimal temperatures and nutritional deficiencies/toxicities (Peleg et al., 2011). Even in modern high-tech greenhouses, imbalanced fertilization and high temperatures are possible. Moreover, due to climate change, these factors are expected to become aggravated, posing a major threat for productivity and food security in the future.