Vegetos

Abstract

Inoculation with strains of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi increased dry weight of maize root and shoot from 84.8 to 187.1% and 56.3 to 145.8% respectively over the uninoculated control. The plant height, per cent root colonization, population of AM fungal spores and mycorrhizal dependency of maize at 60 days after sowing (DAS) as influenced by different AM strains ranged from 47.26 to 87.33, cm plant⁻¹, 63.66 to 92.66%, 439.66 to 583.00 spores 100 g⁻¹ soil and 161.73 to 277.13% per cent in maize, respectively. Phenotypic and genotypic variations in response to AMF colonization is found between plant culti-vars, genotypes, ecotypes, with respect to nutri-ent acquisition and growth. In general Glomus ACP-1 strain caused maximum value of all the parameters. The maximum shoot fresh & dry weight, root dry weight, spore population, root colonization, mycorrhizal dependency in maize crop was observed due to Glomus ACP-1 strain which was statistically at par with Glomus ACP-2.