The Influence Of Host Plant Species And Valeriana Wallichi Residue As Substrate For Inoculum Production Of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi For Sustainable Agriculture

Abstract

In the present world, human fraternity looking for the production of quality food in a very sustainable way. The arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), the nature’s own biofertilizer, are one of the sustainable tools that aids in growth and development of plants. However, there are several limitations in obtaining large amount of inoculums. Therefore, a pot experiment was carried out under polyhouse pot conditions, to evaluate the efficacy of Valeriana wallichi residue as substrate with three host plant species viz. Sesbania aculeata, Sorghum bicolor and Zea mays on mass production of Glomus mosseae. The results in the present investigation showed that AM fungal endophyte was significantly influenced using different concentration of substrate with various host plant species utilized. Comparatively, maize was proved to be most suitable host as it increased mycorrhizal root colonization and spore population to a maximum level with 180gm. concentration of substrate. These findings present AM fungi as one of the most promising tools capable of reducing usage of hazard causing chemicals thereby playing an utterly important role in the direction of sustainable agriculute. The present study was done with an aim to enhance the production of AM fungi.