Abstract

ENHANCEMENT OF ACACIA AURICULIFORMIS GROWTH USING AM FUNGI AND COWPEA RHIZOBIUM APPLICATION

S. Lalitha*

ABSTRACT

The present study is aimed at developing wasteland through exploitation of Rhizobium and AM fungi in association with Acacia auriculiformis and also identifying the optimum biomass accumulation in Acacia auriculiformis Plant biomass, total nitrogen content, and phosphorus content were estimated. Soil NPK content also determined. Initially the soil had high potassium content (115mg/kg soil) and low nitrogen (14mg/kg soil) and phosphorous (1.1mg/kg soil) content. In contrast, dual inoculation significantly enhanced the nitrogen (60.0mg/Kg soil) and phosphorous (24.3mg/Kg soil) contents of soil, but to a lesser extent with respect to potassium content (155mg/Kg soil). Acacia auriculiformis – cowpea Rhizobium (Acau01) AM fungi association appears to be the best one in terms of accumulation of plant biomass, total nitrogen and phosphorus. Further, the aforesaid combination in nutrient poor unsterile soil is found to improve the soil activity such as soil NPK content, soil enzymes and soil microbial populations.

Keywords: AM fungi, Rhizobium, Acacia auriculiformis, nitrogen and NPK.