Grafting watermelon provide protection against soil-borne diseases increasing yields.

Grafting watermelon provide protection against soil-borne diseases increasing yields. Most farmers are beginning to understand that grafting crops especially at the rootstock brings extra qualities that the plant do not possess. This technique is now applied to a wide range varieties of watermelon to help in avoiding the risks of contracting root diseases like Fusarium thus increase yields. Starke Ayres Company which deals in horticulture crops seeds and products has a range of watermelon hybrids that can be grafted and are all suitable for growth in most regions in Kenya. The varieties have potential to produce high quality watermelon fruit of different types to suit different markets and customers. This is according to Samuel Gacheru Starke Ayres Company’s Sales Agronomist-Nairobi. “Grafting watermelon at rootstocks has now become a practice in many of the major watermelon production regions of the world. The primary reason for grafting of vine crops like watermelon is to provide protection against soil-borne diseases,” said Gacheru during this year’s Nairobi International Trade Fair.