Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi increased root-mycorrhizal association and enhanced seedling growth of abaca, papaya, and sugarcane

Abstract

© 2018, International Society for Southeast Asian Agricultural Sciences. All rights reserved. MYKOVAM® is a soil-based biological fertilizer containing spores of more than 10 species of beneficial Arbuscular Mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. Studies reported that this AM inoculant helps in the absorption of water and nutrients particularly phosphorus, prevent root infection by pathogens, and can increase plant tolerance to drought and heavy metals. This study determined if MYKOVAM® inoculation at seedling stage can establish or further enhance root mycorrhizal association in papaya, abaca, and sugarcane, and whether it results to increased root and shoot growth. Pot experiments were conducted for each crop from October 2016 to June 2017. Success of root colonization by AM was assessed one month after inoculation and biomass production were monitored periodically. Significant increase in AM fungi colonization of roots with MYKOVAM® inoculation was observed in all test crops. Plants inoculated with AM fungi also had better root and shoot growth resulting to higher plant biomass. There is advantage in integrating AM fungi inoculation at plantlet/seedling stage in nursery management of abaca and papaya. However, for sugarcane, inoculation of large batches of seed pieces /setts technique for sugarcane seed pieces still needs to be developed. Field studies is recommended to study the persistence of the enhanced AM fungi colonization in field conditions and its effects on subsequent growth and productivity of these crops.

Source or Periodical Title

Journal of the International Society for Southeast Asian Agricultural Sciences

ISSN

8593132

Page

22-29

Document Type

Article

Subject

Am fungi, Mykovam®, Root colonization

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