Vol. 11, Issue 3 (2022)

Author(s):
R Mythra, A Manjunath and N Mahesh

Abstract:
A greenhouse investigation was conducted to determine the effect of acidulation and bio-activation of North Carolina rock phosphate (NCRP) and inoculation of soil with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungus on growth of maize and pigeon pea in an Alfisol. This investigation consisted of 24 treatments resulting from factorial combination of two plant species, two levels of AM fungus (Glomus aggregatum) inoculation and six levels of phosphorus amendment. Based on titrable acidity data the acidification potential of Penicillium sp. was found to be higher than that of Bacillus sp. The extent of mycorrhizal fungal colonization in roots of pigeon pea was higher than that maize. Inoculation of soil with AM fungus caused significant increase in total shoot and dry weight of pigeon pea as well as maize. The results of this study suggest that application NCRP bio-acidulated with Bacillus sp. and Penicillium sp. increases growth of maize and pigeon pea and inoculation of soil with AM fungus augments that effect.