Evaluation Of Grafting Technology For Management Of Bacterial Wilt (Ralstonia Solanacearum) Of Tomato (Solanum Lycopersicum L)

Tomato (Solanum Lycopersicun L) is a very important vegetable grown mainly by small scale farmers in most arable areas in Kenya. Tomato production has declined drastically due to attack by Ralstonia solanacearum, a soil borne pathogen which causes bacterial wilt. Transmission of pathogen occurs when bacterial ooze from the plant enters the surrounding water or soil, contaminates farming equipment or by insect vectors. The disease has not yet been effectively managed. Grafting is an asexual plant propagation technique that involves joining the scion of desirable cultivar onto a resistant rootstock of another compatible species. The overall objective of the study was to investigate the potential use of grafting technique for the management of bacterial wilt in tomato. A survey was first conducted in Kirinyaga County to determine the important pests, pathogens, tomato varieties grown and other key tomato production constraints. Secondly, rootstocks comprising varieties from the Solanaceae family namely Solanum melongena, Capsicum annum L., Solanum incarnum and the bacterial wilt resistant tomato cultivar (Mt56) were evaluated. A tomato cultivar well adapted to greenhouse environment (Anna F1) and one grown under field conditions (Cal J) were used as the scion material. Bacterial inoculum isolation was done using CPG Medium and TZC was used to identify distinct colonies of R. solanacearum. Pathogen inoculum was introduced to the test plants and disease severity data recorded using 0 to 5 scoring scale. Growth vigor of the inoculated and uninoculated seedlings and number of days to wilting were recorded. Data were subjected to ANOVA using Genstat version 15 and significantly different treatment means separated using LSD at P