Abstract
Arbuscular Mycorrhizal (AM) fungi hold considerable potential for use as inoculant and nowadays much attention is focused on mass production of AM fungal inoculum, since this is of paramount importance in improving plant production in agriculture and horticulture. However, effectivity of these fungi on crop growth relies on their production practices, typically the substrate selected for its mass multiplication. Therefore, as an initial step, this experiment was carried out to select a suitable substrate for the AM (Glomus intraradices) inoculum production using maize (PEHM 5) as a host plant. Six different substrates namely biochar, biochar + 10% soil, vermiculite, vermiculite + 10 % soil, vermicompost and vermicompost + 10 % soil were tested with an uninoculated control in pot culture condition for the production of AM inoculum. Maize plants rose in vermicompost + 10% soil with the presence of AM fungi significantly showed an increase in the shoot length, root length, root biomass and nutritional status (N and P) over those grown in other substrates. The results also showed that vermiculite + 10% soil substrate produced the greatest colonization rate (100%) and number of spores (726 / 50 g of substrate) compared to other substrates. Considering the results, it is suggested that vermicompost + 10% soil can be used as a substrate for large scale production of AM fungal inoculum.
Highlights
Arbuscular Mycorrhiza (AM) has been described as a “Universal Symbiosis” in plant kingdom
We utilized maize as test plant in an experiment studying whether a) cheap sources of materials like inert material or pyrolysis product from biomass or enriched compost could act as a best niche for the multiplication of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, b) amendment of 10% soil to the tested substrates supports AM fungal multiplication, as soil can act as a natural supplement of nutrients for both AM multiplication and host plant growth
In a nutshell, the results of the study indicate that vermicompost is a suitable substrate for AM inoculant production commercially in large scale especially Glomus intraradices
Summary
Arbuscular Mycorrhiza (AM) has been described as a “Universal Symbiosis” in plant kingdom. Artificial introduction of more efficient species of AM fungi into soils, where they are lacking or present in low numbers or inefficient species in the form of an inoculant, can improve the growth of many plants (Islam et al, 1980; Khan, 1972; Ibijbijen et al, 1996). Since these fungi associated with Arbuscular Mycorrhizal cannot be grown on artificial synthetic media, the production of inoculum in large quantities has so far not been very successful. The aim of the study was to standardize the substrate for AM inoculum production for commercial utility in large scales
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