Co-inoculation of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and plant growth promoting bacteria improves plant growth and yield of globe artichoke (Cynara cardunculus scolymus)

Abstract

The setting up of innovative fertilization techniques is increasingly needed to face the environmental issues caused by intensive agricultural activities. In this regard, amalgaming minerals and microbial inoculants is a valid agricultural technology. Co-inoculation with combined preparations of microorganisms is known to be more effective than single microorganisms in improving plant growth and production. Therefore, two field experiments were carried out in this work to evaluate the effects of co-inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB) on globe artichoke (Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus) growth and productive performances under organic and conventional farming. AMF-PGPB co-inoculation increased aboveground biomass and head yield. These improvements were higher when globe artichoke was preceded by a faba bean minor ‒ common vetch mixture than durum wheat. No relevant differences were observed when combining AMF-PGPB co-inoculation with conventional or half fertilization. Such findings proved that AMF-PGPB co-inoculation might be an efficient agronomic technique to sustainably improve plant growth and yield of organically- and conventionally-cultivated globe artichokes while at the same time reducing the fertilization rates.