Effect of Biochar Application on Effectiveness of Mycorrhizal Symbiosis in Leucaena leucocephala in an Alfisol
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Date
2015-08-07
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UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES GKVK, BENGALURU
Abstract
A greenhouse investigation was conducted to determine the effect the quantity of
biochar application on VAM symbiosis in Leucaena leucocephala at two levels of
nutrient amendment. There were 72 experimental units in this study arising from factorial
combinations of 6 biochar levels, 2 nutrient levels and 2 VAM fungal inoculation levels
with 3 replicates for each treatment. Application of either nutrients or biochar did not
significantly influence the extent of VAM fungal colonization in roots of Leucaena.
Phosphorus concentration shoot and root samples of plants grown in soil inoculated with
Glomus aggregatum and supplied with 100 units of nutrients was highest at all levels of
biochar amendment. In general, application of biochar did not influence plant phosphorus
concentration irrespective of nutrient amendment. Inoculation of soil with Glomus
aggregatum significantly increased biomass production by Leucaena. Marked reduction
in dry weight of shoot and root as well as total biomass was noticed at biochar application
level of 40 g/kg soil. The regression analysis of this data indicates that biochar
application influences the phosphorus uptake and biomass production in Leucaena
particularly when nutrients were applied. The results of this study illustrate the
importance of optimizing the quantity of biochar as well as and nutrient application in
order to derive maximum benefit from VAM symbiosis.
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