Response of mulberry cuttings to arbuscular mycorrhizal inoculation under controlled conditions

Abstract

Mycorrhizal association with the plants has always proved to influence crop growth in a big way through increased availability of nutrients particularly phosphorus to them. Isolation of native AM fungi, their multiplication and re-inoculation in growing medium has further boosted the growth of various agricultural crops. Mulberry a plant from family Moraceae has been exploited for rearing of silkworm larvae by feeding them with its foliage. The other parts of plant are also being used for their economic importance and farmer friendly utility. The cuttings of mulberry plant were inoculated with native AM fungi and various growth parameters under polyhouse were observed to have significant impact upon them with increased quantitative parameters.Mean sprouting percentage of inoculated cuttings recorded by mid-April was 2.85% higher than un-inoculated cuttings where it was only 2.10%. The mean percentage increase from mid-April to ending May was observed to be 28.26% and in un-inoculated cuttings it was 20.41% and the mean pair difference between the two was 7.85%. There was also significant increase in the mean of survival by 9.70% between inoculated and un-inoculated cuttings. Similarly, the pair differences recorded for other growth parameters were: number of leaves per sapling, 1.35%; leaf area, 3.45 cm²; fresh leaf weight per sapling, 1.15 g; dry leaf weight per sapling, 0.76 g; number of roots, 0.95; length of the longest root, 2.06 cm; total root length, 9.85 cm; root biomass, 0.23 g; and root volume, 0.06 cm³. Overall, it was observed that the cuttings inoculated with mycorrhizal fungi indicated increased growth parameters.