Abstract
In Huai Teecha village in Northern Thailand, local cowpeas were grown on acidic low phosphorus soil without stress symptoms. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi from this system have been found to promote growth of many crops but there is no information about their benefit in cowpea. In a field experiment, three improved cowpea lines (ITD - 1131, Ubon Ratchathani and IT90K – 227 - 2) and a local line (Teecha 1) were grown in 3 farmer’s fields on acid low P soils. Roots of the cowpea lines were all heavily colonized by the fungi and their leaf P was within the sufficient range. In a pot experiment, the cowpea line Ubon Ratchathani was grown in acidic and non acidic (pH 5 and 6.7, respectively) soil with three rates of phosphorus (50, 104 and 141 mg phosphorus pot-1) with and without arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi inoculation. Total dry weight of inoculated cowpea was not affected by soil acidity while it was depressed in un-inoculated plants. The fungi increased total dry weight at 50 and 104 mg phosphorus ha-1 but had no effect at 141 mg phosphorus pot-1. Therefore, the fungi had been shown to enhance P uptake by cowpea roots, which resulted in direct benefit to cowpea growth in acidic low P soil. Key words: Mycorrhiza, cowpea, acid soil.
Highlights
The field study did not find any difference among the 4 cowpea lines in their association with the native AMF arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi; population, as indicated by root colonization, which ranged from 73 to 90% and rhizosphere spore density of 9.7 to 12.2 spores g-1 soil (Table 2)
The response to AMF in total dry weight was similar to that of root dry weight (Figure 3). These results indicate that shoot growth was more sensitive to AMF than root growth
The effect of AMF in enhancing P uptake of cowpea was evident in P uptake; efficiency measured as total plant P content per unit root dry weight (Table 5)
Summary
On acidic low P upland soil in northern Thailand, farmers grow many legumes including cowpea without stress symptoms being expressed. The objective of the field study was to assess the P status and mycorrhizal root colonization in cowpea growing on acidic, low P soil in farmers’ fields known for their naturally abundant and diverse native population of AMF. This was followed by a pot experiment that measured the effectiveness of AMF from the field on nutrient uptake and growth of cowpea
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