Student Spotlight: The Grafter
In an interview with The Stork, first year BBA student Pedro Duque unveils his ongoing horticultural “grafting” project, the technique and benefits behind it, and his expectations for the future.
Pedro always had his heart split between Colombia and Ecuador, but his focus centered on environmental and sustainable entrepreneurship. What started as an award-winning school project with a couple of friends that led to a newspaper interview, it has now become Pedro’s and his father’s small business, that consists in the organic fusion of two fruits into a single tree.
In the following Q&A, Pedro discusses the method used to accomplish this and the road that brought the project to life in the first place.
Q: Tell me a bit about the project you currently have in Quito?
Our project is called “Giardino,” which is Italian for garden, because the original Italian-style garden was 100% natural, calm and peaceful. Therefore, what we wanted to do was introduce that concept in a normal sized house by reducing space. Instead of having five different trees, you have only one.
Q: How does that work?
A: It is going to sound a bit strange, but it is a single tree out of which a different fruit grows on every branch. So, you have to focus on a particular family or genus of fruits. We work mainly with citrus. For example, picture a tree with one branch growing a mandarin, other an orange, and other a lemon.
Q: Do you inject the shoot into the trunk?
A: No, what you do is cut the shoot, from where the branches and the flowers grow, so to speak. You do small incisions on the trunk, insert the new shoot and hold it all together using tape and let it grow normally. It requires practice indeed, but once you get a hold of it is very simple.
Q: What do you use to make the incision? A regular knife?
A: It is literally like a surgery. You have to sterilize the tool. So, you cut in the shape of an inverted “T” and open the first layer of the trunk, where you introduce the shoot and then cover it. You wait two weeks before you can remove the tape, and from then on it is natural growth.
Q: Are the fruits affected in any way?
A: Not at all. There is no genetic mixture involved. Every fruit keeps its own normal characteristics. Thus, for example, we have a tree with seven different citruses. We call it “Paradise Tree”. One may think that there aren’t many citrus fruits out there, but it is incredible how many species of each fruit you can find.
Q: Why did you choose citruses?
A: Well the good thing about Ecuador is that the climatic conditions are ideal for growing anything, and particularly citruses give fruits all year long, and people don’t like waiting to see the outcome.
Q: What is the next step now that the results have been so great?
Well, now with my dad we’ve been doing it from the beginning, and now we have around 200 seeds germinating, so it is a long-term project. At the beginning, we had higher costs because we had to buy small trees because of time, so the seeds are a great investment.
Q: Where did the idea or the inspiration come from?
A: Well, my aunt was doing something similar in Colombia. She has always been involved with agriculture, and was experimenting with shoot inserts. When I went there, I learnt the technique from a man that has been doing it for over forty years.
Q: So, grafting is not something new then?
A: No, it is in fact a millenary practice, but not many people are aware of it. We tried to implement it in a way that is attractive to the market, and at the same time beneficial for the environment.
Q: Is this possible with all fruit families?
A: Yes, of course, with the difference that some take longer than others. One could potentially do it with pears, apples and peaches, for example. We also currently have a tree with three types of mangoes, and the cool thing is that it can also be done with decorative tress. Imagine having several different colors of flowers in a single tree.
Q: How have people reacted to these trees?
A: They do not believe it. They think it must be chemical, or genetical. People are curious, and what really attracts them is telling their neighbors: “Hey, check out my tree with five different fruits.” Besides the cool component, it promotes a healthy lifestyle, reduces space and encourages environmental care. I think that, above all, the project grants trees the attention and the respect they deserve.
Q: What have you learned during this project?
A: That time is everything. Not only for this project but for life. If you use your time wisely you can start initiatives like this since very young, and if you stay confident and patient you can have great returns in the future.
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