Optimizing Pitaya Production: Addressing Pollination Challenges for Higher Yields

Achieving consistent and high pitaya yields is challenging, especially for self-incompatible varieties needing cross-pollination. Unsuccessful pollination leads to significant flower and fruit drop, wasting resources and impacting profitability within the food security aspect of the water-energy-food-ecosystem (WEFE) Nexus. The FrontAg Nexus project’s experience at ElBosten Phytagri highlights complexities in manual cross-pollination for self-incompatible pitaya (‘White from Mexico’) using a self-fertile variety (‘White from Vietnam’). Initial trials, while challenging, underscored the critical need for a deeper understanding of varietal compatibility, climatic impacts, and greenhouse environmental effects on pollen viability.