Influence of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and different levels of phosphorus on the growth of corn in water stress conditions

• Published in: African journal of agricultural research 2012-04, Vol.7 (16), p.2575-2580
• Main Authors: Ghorbanian, D, Harutyunyan, S, Mazaheri, D, Rasoli, V, Mohebi, A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agronomy; Corn; Fertilizers; Fungi; Irrigation; Science and Technology; Soil sciences
• ISSN: 1991-637X; 1991-637X
• DOI: 10.5897/AJAR11.2105

In this research the effects of mycorrhizal fungi and different levels of phosphorous chemical fertilizers on yield and yield components of corn under three levels of irrigation (60,120 and180 mm) were studied. This experiment was performed in a split factorial design with four replications. Irrigation were placed in the main plots at different pure phosphorus levels (0, 60 and 120 kg/ha) and mycorrhizal fungi (0 and 6 g per seed) were placed in the subplots. The results indicated that mycorrhizal fungi had significance effects on the yield and yield components of corn. The highest grain yield (5045 kg/ha) and number of seed per row (41) were obtained in treatments irrigation (60 mm), phosphorus (60 g/m2) and mycorrhiza (6 g per seed), while this treatment had not significance difference with irrigation (120 mm )* phosphorus (60 g/m2) * mycorrhiza (6 g per seed). The highest 1000 grain weight (157.75 g) were obtained in treatments irrigation (60 mm) * phosphorus (60 g/m2) * mycorrhiza (6 g per seed) with irrigation (60 mm) * phosphorus (120 g/m2) * mycorrhiza (6 g per seed). However, such mycorrhizal efficiency revealed a decreasing trend with increasing use of phosphorous chemical fertilizers. Moreover, under water stress, mycorrhizal inoculation improved most of the measured indexes. This kind of bio-fertilizer can therefore, have an important key role in agriculture of arid and semi-arid climates. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]