Abstract
Mycorrhizal associations contribute to the sustainability of crop production systems through their roles in nutrient cycling and other benefits in the soil-plant ecosystems. A two-year study was conducted on the Alfisols of Lilongwe and Dowa districts, Central Malawi, to assess the vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) fungal colonisation levels in pigeon pea, cowpea, and maize grown in sole cropping, legume-cereal, and legume-legume intercropping systems and in the maize grown in short rotation (year 2) as influenced by the previous cropping systems and N fertilizer application. The gridline intersect method was used to assess the VAM fungal colonisation levels. Results showed that all treatments that included legumes whether grown as sole crop, in legume-cereal or in legume-legume cropping systems in the previous year, had significantly higher (P < 0.05) VAM fungal colonisation of the rotational maize crop roots by a range 39% to 50% and 19% to 47% than those in maize supplied and not supplied with N fertilizer, respectively, in a maize-maize short rotation, at the Lilongwe site. A similar trend was reported for the Dowa site. Furthermore, there were positive correlations between VAM fungal colonisation and the plant P content, dry matter yield, and nodule numbers. Further studies may help to assess the diversity of VAM fungal species in Malawi soils and identify more adaptive ones for inoculation studies.
Highlights
The sustainable intensification of crop production calls for various approaches including integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) [1, 2]
All treatments that involved legumes in the previous season, that is, pigeon pea and cowpea, grown as sole crops or legume-cereal or legume-legume intercrops, showed significantly higher (P < 0.05) percent colonisation of maize roots by vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhiza (VAM) fungi ranging from 39% to 50% than VAM fungal colonisation in maize not supplied with N fertilizer that followed sole maize
The previous season legume-based systems led to significantly higher VAM fungal colonisation, by the range of 19% to 47% in maize supplied with 23 kg N ha−1 that was preceded by sole maize of the previous season
Summary
The sustainable intensification of crop production calls for various approaches including integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) [1, 2]. It advocates agricultural productivity while ensuring the maintenance and resilience of the ecosystems [3, 4]. Mycorrhiza is a mutualistic association between roots of plants and some fungal species. The fungal species benefits carbohydrates and habitat from the plant while providing a number of benefits to the plant They enhance P uptake and other nutrients by increasing plant root surface area and producing organic acids and phosphatase enzymes that solubilise P [11,12,13]. Marschner and Dell [14] have reported up to 80%, 25%, 10%, 25%, and 60% uptake of plant P, N, K, Zn, and Cu, respectively, by external
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