Role of grapevine rootstocks in mitigating environmental stresses: A review

Abstract

Viticulture is one of the most important crop industry in the world and its cultivation is on the upward trend globally. Global water and soil resources continue to decline sharply and rampant extreme weather conditions are making serious threat to sustainable agriculture and food security. Further, the changes in climatic conditions are increasingly becoming favorable for rearing certain harmful biotic organisms which are hostile to sustained grapes and other crop  cultivation. The environmental changes have shown a projected impact on viticulture through increased biotic and abiotic stresses. Range of strategies can be employed to mitigate such scenarios, however integration of rootstocks to combat such challenges is of a sustainable nature. Grape rootstocks have exhibited their role in mitigating the problems raised due to a variety of environmental stresses. For example, certain Vitis species are used as rootstock against phylloxera and other harmful pests of grapes. Similarly, there are certain rootstocks developed which have their tolerance ability against salinity, drought, cold and iron chlorosis. Within changing environmental conditions, it is not necessary that the one rootstock performing better at a specific place may perform better on another place too. This review is presented to describe the role of grapes rootstock against biotic and abiotic environmental stresses.