Influence of dwarf interstock on inter-stock grafting in Cashew (Anacardium occidentale)

Cashew (Anacardium occidentale) is a perennial nut crop, extensively cross-pollinated and heterozygous, therefore seedlings cannot be utilized for commercial planting. However, rootstock can be generated from seednuts and used for grafting by a preferred cashew variety. Because of its perennial nature, this crop will require a lengthy breeding cycle to produce any unique features. As a result, interstock grafting technology represents a fresh way to grafting success and producing unique features in cashews. With this background, we conducted a study on inter-stock grafting with various dwarfing scion materials as inter-stock scions with a desirable variety in nursery trials across two seasons (October and April) to determine the survival percentage for future research. Three different inter-stock scions (Nethra Vaman, Taliparamba, and V-7) were employed with two commercial types (V-4 and Bhaskara), and dwarf trait and other growth parameters were measured. Grafting success rates ranged from 40 to 96.67 percent during 2022-23 and 63.33 to 100 percent during 2023-24. Across various grafting seasons. Grafting in April had a better survival rate than grafting in October, and V4 variety had a higher success rate than Bhaskara among different interstock grafting.