Perspectives on Crop Improvement
The fungus F. oxysporum is the major cause of economic damage to vanilla cultivation worldwide. Management practices and chemical control have so far not proved effective at controlling outbreaks of Fusarium. Strategies should be developed to identify a genetic basis for resistance through selection and breeding. Genomic/ genetic technologies such as marker-assisted selection and gene chips can help in this regard.
Knowledge of the nutritional requirements of vanilla is still imperfect. The quantity and types of nutrients needed by vanilla at each phenological stage should be studied in more detail. Such information can be used to generate mulches and fertilizer mixtures specific to vanilla. This in turn would have a beneficial effect on yields. Similarly, water is an indispensable element in the cultivation of vanilla, but the precise water needs of vanilla—how much, and at what intervals—are yet to be studied.
Vanilla pests are readily managed with organic products, when such chemicals are used efficiently and opportunistically. In addition to learning more about the effects of specific management practices, vanilla cultivation stands to improve from insights into how flowering can be induced using chemical or hormonal applications.
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