Field Application of Mycorrhizal Inoculant Influences Growth, Nutrition, and Physiological Parameters of Corn Plants and Affects Soil Microbiological Attributes
2024
Paulo Ademar Avelar Ferreira | Carina Marchezan | Gustavo Scopel | Natalia Teixeira Schwab | Emanuela Pille da Silva | Cláudio Roberto Fonsêca Sousa Soares | Gustavo Brunetto | Sidney Luiz Stürmer
Mycorrhizal inoculants can contribute to the development of corn crops by improving crop productivity. In this sense, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of a mycorrhizal inoculant on the dynamics of root system growth, gas exchange, corn crop productivity, and microbial activity in the rhizospheric soil in a no-till area with different levels of available soil phosphorus. The experiment was conducted during the 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 growing seasons. At 75 days after plant emergence, root morphological parameters (total root length (cm), average root diameter (mm), root surface area (cm<sup>2</sup>), and root volume), shoot biomass production, P content in the plant shoots, gas exchange, and microbiological attributes of the rhizospheric soil of corn were evaluated. At the end of the cycle, corn grain yield was determined. A beneficial effect of AMF inoculation was observed on the root and shoot parameters regardless of soil P level. Under conditions of evenly distributed rainfall during the experiment (2019/2020 season), AMF inoculation contributed to a 90% increase in acid phosphatase activity and a 76% increase in microbial biomass carbon (C-BIO), independent of soil P level. In contrast, under water deficit conditions (2020/2021 season), AMF inoculation provided a 29% increase in grain yield. We concluded that introducing a commercial mycorrhizal inoculant in corn benefits root system morphological parameters and physiological traits, and favors the activity of enzymes related to increased P availability, contributing to increased crop productivity in a no-till system.
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