Response of winter wheat to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal inoculation under farm conditions

Abstract

The effect of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi inoculation was investigated on two winter wheat cultivars (Triticum aestivum var. Mv Nádor and var. Genius) grown under farm conditions in the neighbourhood of Nagyhörcsök in 2016. The soil was a chernozem with lime deposits (WBR classification: Calcic chernozem) with a mean humus content of 2.73%, AL-soluble P₂O₅ and K₂O concentrations of 181 mg kg^-1 and 149 mg kg^-1 and a pH_(KCl) value of 7.27. The AM inoculum contained reproductive units of Rhizophagus irregularis (previously Glomus intraradices) and Glomus mosseae (syn. Funneliformis mosseae). In addition to soil inoculation, some of the treatments were also given mineral fertiliser treatment (130 kg N ha^-1, 78 kg P₂O₅ ha^-1, 60 kg K₂O ha^-1).

Both AM inoculation and mineral fertiliser treatment were found to have a significant effect on the yield (at the p<0.05 level). The yield of plots with mycorrhizal inoculation averaged 8.17 t ha^-1, which was higher than that of non-inoculated plots (7.52 t ha^-1), while the yield of plots with fertiliser treatment averaged 8.31 t ha^-1, as compared with 7.38 t ha^-1 for non-fertilised plots. The yield-enhancing effect of AM inoculation was only manifested in plots given no mineral fertiliser. Plant protection measures were the same in all the treatments.

The results and the conclusions drawn from them were based on the data of a single year (2016). Data from experiments performed in several years with more cultivars and soils with diverse properties will be required to obtain better grounded, more reliable recommendations for farmers.