In another piece of agricultural research, scientists at the Indian Institute of Vegetable Research (IIVR) in Varanasi, part of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), have developed a new hybrid plant that can produce three vegetables at once - brinjal (eggplant), tomato and chilli.
IIVR director Dr. TK Behera, Dr. Anant Bahadur, principal scientist (vegetable), and head division of crop production at ICAR-IIVR, Varanasi, told Hindustan Times that the hybrid plant created through the grafting technique is ''growing well and is yet to be named.''
"The grafting of chilli and tomato plants has been done on the brinjal rootstock," Dr. Bahadur said.
He expressed great optimism that by January 2024 we will see a bountiful harvest of chillies, aubergines and tomatoes.
Dr Bahadur explained that the fascinating hybrid plant 'Pomato' was created by first germinating potato tubers and then grafting tomato plants onto them.
"The plant grew well and bore tomatoes above ground and potatoes below the ground,” Dr. Bahadur said.
‘Pomato’ as a single plate yielded around three kg of tomatoes and around 1.25 kg of potatoes, he added.
In 2019, scientists accomplished an extraordinary achievement by successfully developing the 'Brimato' hybrid plant through the innovative technique of grafting aubergine and tomato hybrids onto brinjal rootstock. Brimato’ hybrid plant by grafting both the aubergine and tomato hybrids on the Brinjal root stock.
Dr. Bahadur states that while a regular plant withers away within just 24 hours under waterlogged conditions, the remarkable 'Brimato' hybrid has proven its ability to thrive for an astounding four days.
The Brimato hybrid plant was transplanted in October and in March, brinjals and tomatoes were ready to be harvested. Dr. Bahadur mentioned that a single plant has the potential to produce approximately 3 kg of tomatoes and 2.5 kg of aubergines. Furthermore, he emphasized that these plants can be effortlessly cultivated in kitchen gardens, backyards, and small fields. kitchen gardens, backyards, and small fields, Dr Bahadur signed off.