Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
JOURNAL OF CROP HEALTH, cilt.77, ss.1-21, 2025 (SCI-Expanded)
Water and soil salinity are among the most significant ecological factors limiting agricultural productivity, especially in saline-affected regions. In vegetable crops, salt stress adversely affects physiological practices like water uptake, photosynthesis, and nutrient absorption, leading to stunted growth, wilting, and reduced yields. Numerous approaches have been developed to improve the salinity tolerance of vegetable plants, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. Among these approaches, vegetable grafting, a horticultural practice, offers a suggesting alternative solution to overcome salt stress’ harmful outcomes. Grafting technology, a horticultural practice where the tissues of two different plant parts (rootstock and scion) are joined to grow as one, has emerged as a promising solution to enhance salt tolerance in vegetable crops. By utilizing salt-tolerant rootstocks, grafting improves root system development, enhances nutrient uptake, and activates protective biochemical responses, including increased antioxidant activity. Vegetable grafting has been utilized commercially on numerous crops such as melons, watermelons, muskmelon, cucumbers, tomatoes, sweet peppers, eggplants, to improve tolerances to type of biotic and abiotic conditions, like salinity, alkalinity, waterlogging, high or low temperatures, drought, and heavy metal toxicity, as well as to enhance crop yield and quality. This review aims to present the adverse effects of salt stress at plants, the potential of grafting technology in mitigating salt stress in vegetable crops, and examining the physiological, biochemical, and morphological benefits of grafting by using salt resistant rootstocks under saline conditions. Furthermore, the paper highlights successful case studies and research findings that demonstrate the effectiveness of grafting in improving salt tolerance in various vegetable species using different rootstocks on improving plant growth, photosynthetic capacity, crop yield and quality. The integration of biotechnological and genetic engineering approaches with grafting also holds potential to further enhance its efficacy. The future of grafting technology in sustainable agriculture is promising, offering a viable solution to maintain crop productivity and resilience in the face of increasing salinity challenges worldwide. We conclude that vegetable grafting has great potential for maintaining and improving productivity in salt-stressed agricultural systems.