Intensive agriculture contributes to a decrease in microbial biomass and crop yields, while accelerating soil degradation. Arbuscular mycorrhizae associations have direct benefits for plant nutrition, and may be consi...Intensive agriculture contributes to a decrease in microbial biomass and crop yields, while accelerating soil degradation. Arbuscular mycorrhizae associations have direct benefits for plant nutrition, and may be considered a useful tool in modem agriculture. Notwithstanding the widespread knowledge of these benefits, their use in intensive fanning systems has until now been ineffectual, because most mycorrhizal species have low tolerance toward high concentrations of nutrients and are poorly adapted to the soil and/or mycorrhizal functioning. The aim of this work was to test the efficacy of an arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungus, Glomus iranicum var. tenuihypharum on lettuce and table grape crops in different intensive farming systems. The variables studied were root colonization percentage, external mycelium concentration, gas exchange, photosynthetic activity, root starch concentration and plant nutrition. The main finding was that the fungus is tolerant of a wide range of soil pH values, high salinity levels and abundant external mycelium. In lettuce, it produced significant increases in plant physiological activity and productivity (10%-15%); and in table grapes, increases of 12%-45% in yield were achieved for more than three years in Crimson variety, and significant increases in fruit cluster weight, color uniformity and Brix (~Bx). The AM species is protected by two patents and is a component of MycoUp, MycoUp Activ, Resid HC and Resid MG, whose commercial application has spread to more than 30 countries, with increments in crop yields of 8%-45% in lines as varied as leaf vegetables, berries, fruit, olives, grapes, greenhouse crops and cereals.展开更多
文摘Intensive agriculture contributes to a decrease in microbial biomass and crop yields, while accelerating soil degradation. Arbuscular mycorrhizae associations have direct benefits for plant nutrition, and may be considered a useful tool in modem agriculture. Notwithstanding the widespread knowledge of these benefits, their use in intensive fanning systems has until now been ineffectual, because most mycorrhizal species have low tolerance toward high concentrations of nutrients and are poorly adapted to the soil and/or mycorrhizal functioning. The aim of this work was to test the efficacy of an arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungus, Glomus iranicum var. tenuihypharum on lettuce and table grape crops in different intensive farming systems. The variables studied were root colonization percentage, external mycelium concentration, gas exchange, photosynthetic activity, root starch concentration and plant nutrition. The main finding was that the fungus is tolerant of a wide range of soil pH values, high salinity levels and abundant external mycelium. In lettuce, it produced significant increases in plant physiological activity and productivity (10%-15%); and in table grapes, increases of 12%-45% in yield were achieved for more than three years in Crimson variety, and significant increases in fruit cluster weight, color uniformity and Brix (~Bx). The AM species is protected by two patents and is a component of MycoUp, MycoUp Activ, Resid HC and Resid MG, whose commercial application has spread to more than 30 countries, with increments in crop yields of 8%-45% in lines as varied as leaf vegetables, berries, fruit, olives, grapes, greenhouse crops and cereals.