Abstract
Nutrient availability is an important factor in crop production, and regular addition of chemical fertilizers is the most common practice to improve yield in agrosystems for intensive crop production. The use of some groups of microorganisms that have specific activity providing nutrients to plants is a good alternative, and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) enhance plant nutrition by providing especially phosphorus, improving plant growth and increasing crop production. Unfortunately, the use of AMF as an inoculant on a large scale is not yet widely used, because of several limitations in obtaining a large amount of inoculum due to several factors, such as low growth, the few species of AMF domesticated under in vitro conditions, and high competition with native AMF. The objective of this work was to test the infectivity of a Rhizophagus clarus inoculum and its effectiveness as an alternative for nutrient supply in soybean (Glycine max L.) and cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) when compared with conventional chemical fertilization under field conditions. The experiments were carried out in a completely randomized block design with five treatments: Fertilizer, AMF, AMF with Fertilizer, AMF with 1/2 Fertilizer, and the Control with non-inoculated and non-fertilized plants. The parameters evaluated were AMF root colonization and effect of inoculation on plant growth, nutrient absorption and yield. The results showed that AMF inoculation increased around 20 % of root colonization in both soybean and cotton; nutrients analyses in vegetal tissues showed increase of P and nitrogen content in inoculated plants, these results reflect in a higher yield. Our results showed that, AMF inoculation increase the effectiveness of fertilizer application in soybean and reduce the fertilizer dosage in cotton.
Highlights
Nutrient availability is crucial to plant growth and crop production
The objective of this work was to determine the effectiveness of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) (R. clarus) inoculation in two crops soybean (Glycine max L.) and cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.), assessing its effect on plant growth, nutrient uptake and yield when compared with conventional chemical fertilization under field conditions
The first evaluation (30 days after emergence (DAE)) of AMF colonization for two soybean varieties (BRS 133 and BRS 359 RR) showed that R. clarus inoculation increased root colonization about 20% more than non-inoculated plants; not statistically significant, this difference indicates that inoculation have a positive effect (Figures 1A and 2A)
Summary
Nutrient availability is crucial to plant growth and crop production. This is influenced by several factors such as the chemical and physical properties of soil, climate and crop type. Crop production in tropical soils requires large amounts of chemical fertilizers, which enhance nutrient release and availability for plant nutrition (Miransari, 2011). Soybean (Glycine max L.) is a legume plant, of Fabaceae family. It is cultivated on large scale because has good adaptability to different soil and climatic conditions. Cotton and soybean are two important crops in Brazil and, represent around 58% of the total cultivated area (CONAB, 2014) requiring a large amounts of chemicals fertilizers
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