Grafting with Passiflora spp. as a Productive Strategy in the Cultivation of Passiflora edulis with Saline Water

Salinity causes morphophysiological changes that compromise the growth and production of cultivated species, such as Passiflora edulis. However, wild species better tolerate environmental adversities. Therefore, we evaluated the performance of P. edulis scion (Guinezinho, BSR YG1, BRS SC1) grafted on Passiflora rootstocks (P. cincinnata, P. foetida, and P. edulis), regarding the electrical conductivity of irrigation water (0.5 and 3.0 dS m−1), and it was hypothesized that rootstocks would mitigate the effects of salinity and that there is a difference between non-grafted cultivars. Grafted plants reached the trellis stage sooner, and the use of P. foetida rootstocks reduced the time to prune the stem. The highest productivity was obtained with the YG1 cultivar grafted onto P. foetida, under irrigation with water salinity, reaching 8073.96 kg ha−1 and exceeding by up to 139.19% the other grafting and electrical conductivity of the irrigation water. The grafting technique proved effective in mitigating the effects of salinity, particularly the combination between P. foetida and YG1 cultivar P. edulis, which showed compatibility and superior agronomic performance under saline stress conditions. These results indicate a promising strategy for the sustainability of yellow passion fruit cultivation in semi-arid regions, contributing to the maintenance of productivity, even in environments with restricted water quality resources.