Lahanu Gabhale

Chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) is one of the important commercial vegetable crop in India as well as important spice and condiment crop all over the world. Chilli can be grown in tropical and subtropical regions with warm and humid climate with temperature between 20- 25 C. Chilli cultivation has various limiting factors such as abiotic i.e. water stress, heavy rainfall, lodging due to weak root growth, salt concentration, chilling injury, high temperature, and biotic i.e. soil borne diseases, viruses, sucking pests and nematodes etc. The major objectives of vegetable grafting are to eliminate soil borne pests and problems from soil acidity and salinity, other objectives are to increase productivity. Grafting used to increase uniformity, vigour and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses of vegetatively propagated plants (i.e. fruit and ornamental trees and shrubs). Due to high post graft mortality of seedling, grafting technology is still not well developed in India. For its commercial application in India, sharpening of grafting skills and healing environment need to be standardized. Maintaining temperature in the optimal range (25 C to 28 C) and high RH (>95%) for healing.

Chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) belongs to the family solanaceae having diploid species with 2n=2x=24 chromosomes. Chilli is originated in South America and in the seventeenth century it was introduced in India by Portuguese. Chilli is a herbaceous or semi woody annual plant with fruits vary in shape, size, colour and degree of pungency. Chilli cultivation has various limiting factors such as abiotic i.e. water stress, heavy rains, lodging due to weak root growth, salt concentration, chilling injury, high temperature and biotic i.e. soil born diseases, viruses, sucking pests and nematodes etc. Also, there are challenges regarding production cost and marketing trends in India. These abiotic and biotic factors damages growth as well as production in chilli. To tackle these biotic and abiotic stresses, grafting in chilli can be the potential solution. Seedling production is an important step in the graft production system because it influences the final result of the grafting. Potting media is a major factor that influences seed germination, seedling emergence, seedling growth and quality of seedlings in a nursery.

In India, rice is the most important food crop covering about one -fourth of the total cropped area and providing food to about half of the Indian population. The organic movement in India has its origin in the work of Howard (Howard, 1940). The key factors affecting consumer demand for organic food is the health consciousness and the willingness of the public to pay for the high-priced produce. Organic farming is way of conserving the soil, maintaining its fertility, protecting soil flora and fauna diversity thus preventing pollution of ground water, lakes and rivers. Animal wastes such as dung, urine, green manure, bio-fertilizers, wastes from agro and food based industries are some of the potential sources of nutrients in organic farming. Green manuring, which is of organic origin, helps to keep soil quality and fertility enhancement as a whole meeting a part of nutrient need of crops. Humic substances are readily found in soils and influence plant growth both directly and indirectly.