Interaction of am fungi and sugarcane (saccharum officinarum l.)

AM fungi is the most abundant kind of mycorrhizae and develops association with most of the plant species in the earth and enhances the growth and development of associated plants through the transport of required nutrients from the non-rhizosphere soil particularly phosphorus. The plants like sugarcane needs association of AM fungi to overcome ‘P’ deficiency due to its long standing periods in the same rhizosphere soil and leads to depletion of ‘P’ in the rhizosphere soil. In the present investigation eight isolates were obtained from eight different locations and identified as five different AM fungal species based on screening studies for acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase, efficiency to colonize sugarcane roots and interaction with sugarcane in the form of mycorrhizal inoculation effect (MIE) and relative mycorrhizal dependency, the Glomus fasciculatum was found to be a best AM fungal species for sugarcane and used in the pot culture studies. In the present research G. fasciculatum with recommended dose of farm yard manure significantly enhanced the plant height, cane girth, root colonization and spore number of sugarcane compared with other organic amendments.