Min Dong

Jiaxing Realzen Ecological Agriculture Technology Co., Ltd, Jiaxing, 314200, Zhejiang, China
Author    Correspondence author
International Journal of Horticulture, 2024, Vol. 14, No. 6   doi: 10.5376/ijh.2024.14.0041
Received: 25 Oct., 2024    Accepted: 10 Dec., 2024    Published: 24 Dec., 2024

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Dong M., 2024, Research on varietal improvement and cultivation techniques for dragon fruit (pitaya), International Journal of Horticulture, 14(6): 414-425 (doi: 10.5376/ijh.2024.14.0041)

This study explores the main varieties of dragon fruit and their improvement techniques, analyzes cultivation management strategies, and explores the potential for applications in digital farming and precision management to provide scientific support for dragon fruit cultivation. It aims to meet the growing market demand for high-quality fruit. The study finds that dragon fruit improvement methods, including hybrid breeding, mutation breeding, molecular marker-assisted selection (MAS), and gene editing, have significantly enhanced dragon fruit's performance in disease resistance, fruit quality, and stress tolerance. Additionally, optimized cultivation techniques, such as water and fertilizer management, flowering management, and post-harvest preservation, play a crucial role in ensuring high yield and quality. Intelligent management tools such as the Internet of Things (IoT), drone monitoring, and data analysis drive dragon fruit cultivation toward precision and efficiency. The integration of varietal improvement and precision cultivation techniques not only enables future dragon fruit production to better adapt to climate change, improving production efficiency and economic benefits, but also provides a reference for achieving sustainable agriculture and reducing resource waste.

Dragon fruit; Varietal improvement; Cultivation techniques; Digital management; Precision agriculture