Rootstocks for increasing yield stability and sustainability in vegetable crops

Agricultural productivity must increase by 60% to feed the expected population of 9.6 billion people in 2050, while climate change may reduce crop productivity by 80% by the end of this century. Within that framework, our research on grafting is aimed at unraveling root attributes for the improvement of yield stability and food security in vegetable crops. Grafting has been successfully used in woody perennial crops for centuries while in vegetable crops it has advanced during the last 50 years, specifically to improve shoot vigor and resistance to soil-borne pathogens. However, there is still a limited knowledge about the physiological and genetic factors determining the interactions between the rootstock and the scion and vice versa. In this review we focus on how grafting can improve yield stability and sustainability in vegetable crops by using appropriate rootstocks, addressing the following aspects: 1) yield potential increment of elite cultivars; 2) resistance to biotic and abiotic stress conditions; 3) improvement of resource use efficiency; 4) reduction of chemicals that are potentially polluting products (fertilizers and pesticides); and, finally; 5) optimization of crop productivity.