Tropical Plant Research

Md. Tahjib-Ul-Arif*, Aporna Ghosh, S. G. Chamely, M. R. Haque and Md. Mokhlesur Rahman

*Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh

DOI: https://doi.org/10.22271/tpr.2018.v5.i3.046

Abstract:
Most of the vegetable crops retain an association with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) which can improve the growth, nutrition, water supply and tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses of host plants. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to investigate whether the association of red amaranth (Amaranthus tricolor) and Indian spinach (Basella alba) with AMF, increase the shoot mineral nutrient contents and whether supplementation of organic matter and phosphorus enhance AMF association. The experiment was laid out in a factorial design considering three-factor viz. arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM), cowdung (CD) and phosphorus (P). There were five replications and total 40 treatment combinations. Results showed that in both vegetable maximum N, P, K, S, Mg, Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn and protein contents were observed due to the application of AMF and cowdung with phosphorus. The combined application of AMF with cowdung and phosphorus enhanced the association with plants and was more effective than only AMF application to enhance nutrient contents. Also, the uptake of almost all macro- and micronutrients increased due to the application of cowdung and phosphorus with arbuscular mycorrhiza.