GRAFTED BITTER GOURD
Agronomic Practice to Increase Yield
Success in Grafted Bitter gourd
In the aftermath of two strong typhoons, Mr. Robert Azonsa’s grafted Mestisa, which they referred as “resurrected bittergourd,” defied the odds by rising from the ruins left by the storms. Mr. Robert has already uprooted half of the plant population after the storm, but another farmer and friend advised to spare the remaining half and see what will happen.
Despite their initial reluctance to invest further, the grafted plants not only recovered but thrived, yielding an impressive harvest which was marketed at high price since most of the neighboring fields did not survive the typhoons. During our visit, they emphasized the advantage of grafted Mestisa, highlighting its resilience and high yield, especially during the wet season, making it a valuable choice for farmers even in challenging conditions.
Photo taken during our visit in Gapan, Nueva Ecija while Mr. Robert’s family and workers were ecstatically sorting and packing their harvest that day.
Success in Grafted Bitter gourd
Mr. Elmer Mateo in Gapan, Nueva Ecija has been actively engaged in cultivating grafted bitter gourd since 2019 primarily due to the prevalence of bacterial wilt in his fields. He has already obtained an impressive harvest of nineteen tons of bitter gourd from a modest 700 plants of grafted Mestisa in 12 harvest periods. He realized nearly a tenfold return on his initial investment. Despite this notable success, he remains keen on furthering his knowledge on effective management practices for grafted bitter gourd cultivation.
Photo taken during our visit at Kuya Elmer Mateo’s grafted bitter gourd field in Gapan, Nueva Ecija. The Breeding, Plant Pathology/Entomology, and Product Development Support team were accompanied by partners from Farm Ready.
Success in Grafted Bitter gourd
Visit to Kuya Lando Guevarra, a 38-year-old bittergourd farmer from Tilapayong, Baliuag, Bulacan.
Kuya Lando began growing bitter gourd ten years ago and recently tried growing grafted Mestisa. He is very grateful that his grafted plants were able to withstand the damage of typhoons. Right now, from planting to harvesting to market distribution, farming has become their family business.
Kuya Lando was able to buy a Montero vehicle and send their three children to a private school thru farming, thanks to his years of hard work and tenacity
Choosing the rootstocks:
Grafted bitter gourd is where technique in grafting is implemented by joining 2 different crops designated as rootstock and scion. Rootstock is usually a crop which has better resistance to different soil-borne pathogens and the scions are usually the high yielding crops. In practice, rootstocks are crops which have been bred to be resistant to different soil-borne pathogens. It also helps to improve plant vigor and boost yield by longer harvesting period and tolerance to abiotic stress, good for intercropping and consecutive planting at the same area offering farmers more benefits in different circumstances.
In East-West Seed, we have now tested and identified graft combinations using a highly resistant and good quality rootstock with a high yielding scion variety of bitter gourd. Grafting in bitter gourd is already a practice in some countries using the EWS bittergourd including the Philippines and Thailand.
Grafted seedlings
Grafted seedlings ready to be transplant to the field
Do grafted plants have higher yield without soil borne disease pressure?
Grafting with resistant rootstock can prevent bacterial wilt, fusarium wilt and root knot nematode problems affecting bittergourd. Planting grafted bitter gourd in a non-diseased area can still increase the yield by 30% or more compared when using the non-grafted. The increase can be observed more starting on the 5th to 6th pickings until the extended harvesting when the area is not infested with insect pests and foliar diseases. Continuous cropping of bitter gourds can be done with grafted plants that can withstand the presence of these soil-borne diseases.
Non-grafted
Grafted
Agronomic practices of grafted bitter gourd for higher yield
Using grafted seedlings can reduce planting density to one third compared to non-grafted seedlings.
We recommend preparing the bed with the following spacing for the cultivation of grafted bitter gourd This spacing can accommodate 1,666 to 2,222 plants per hectare.
Description
Bed size
Spacing
0.5 meter
Space between beds 3 meters
Space between hills or plants 1.5 - 2 meter
Canal beside the bed 0.25 meter
Remarks
Single row
Non grafted 0.5-1 meter
Ensure to include canal to reduce water logging the beds
A. Non Grafted (0.5 meter between plants)
B. Grafted (1.5 meters between plants)
Important Factors to Consider When Growing the Grafted
Grafting Union above ground:
Graft union should not touch the ground since this could be an entry point for soil-borne pathogens, especially in disease-infected areas.
Removal of side shoots:
Growing side shoots from the rootstocks must be removed immediately to avoid nutrient competition with the scion.
With and without side shoots from the rootstock
General Cultivation practices for grafted bittergourd
Grafted Bitter gourd cultivation practices
Field Preparation
- Seed sowing in seedling tray with sterilized soil media
- Hardened the seedlings from 12-14 days after sowing
- Prepare the field at 1 meter between plant x 3 meter between bed spacing
- Mulch the bed
Transplanting / Vegetative Stage Flowering Fruiting Stage Fruit Maturation
- Transplant in the afternoon and irrigate the field
- Drench seedling with Calcium nitrate
- Establish trellis
- Vine train the seedlings
- Apply pesticides if necessary
- Continue fertilization and application of pesticides if necessary
- Apply Potassium (K)
- Remove the old leaves by pruning to reduce incidence of diseases
- Apply foliar fertilizer
- Apply yellow sticky trap to reduce the insect pest
- Pollinate the female flowers to ensure fruit development
Important disease and pest in bitter gourd
- Maintain fertilization to support fruit development
- Regularly irrigate the field
- Harvest the fruits at the right maturity to maximize the storage capacity
- Maintain the fertilization and irrigation practice
For more information about the insect pests and diseases of bitter gourd you can visit:
https://www.plantdoctor.eastwestseed.com https://growhow.eastwestseed.com/crop-guide-template/bitter-gourd
For more information about rootstock variety in EWS you can visit: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AAWyelQU9AjbOhXgpU9BPMYLqjlW--nu/view?usp=sharing
*DBT - days before transplanting **DAT - days after transplanting