Alejandro Hurtado Salazar (Author) – Universidad de Caldas, Manizales, Caldas, Colombia
John Ocampo Pérez (Author) – Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Palmira, Valle del Cauca, Colombia
Nelson Ceballos-Aguirre (Author) – Universidad de Caldas, Manizales, Caldas, Colombia
Dora Janeth García Jaramillo (Author) – Universidad de Caldas, Manizales, Caldas, Colombia
Walter Ricardo Lopez (Author) – Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Manizales, Caldas, Colombia

Series: Botanical Research and Practices

BISAC: SCI011000

The diseases are among the main factors responsible for the low productivity and losses in commercial passionfruit crops and soil-borne fungal are still constraints that growers must face every day in timelife of orchards. Among the agents that cause pathologies, Fusarium oxysporium S, Fusarium solani Sacc and Phytophora spp., deserve attention. The use of tolerant cultivars stands out as one of the most effective, economic and ecological measures in the control of the disease. In the case of passionfruit, this strategy is essential based on the high susceptibility of current cultivars. Fusarium spp. normally compromises the efficiency of the root system, as well as the conductive vessels of the sage, reducing the longevity of the plant and limiting the use of the areas contaminated by the soil-borne fungal.

Tolerance to F. solani was found in Passiflora gibertti N.E. Brown, P. nitida Kunth, P. macrocarpa Mast, P. maliformis L., P. quadrangularis L., P. setacea DC, P. alata Curtis, and P. caerulea L., presenting grafting with the use of tolerant species a viable alternative to attenuate the problems caused by this fungi. Thus, with the use of tolerant wild Passiflora species as rootstocks, it allows to reduce the heavy impact of soil pathogens, increasing the useful life of orchards, as well as contributes to more productive uniform orchards and higher quality fruits in passionfruits. However, there is little information on the grafting techniques and effect of wild Passiflora species such as passionfruit rootstock that ensure their effectiveness and the adoption by growers.