Background:

Nowadays there is a need to implement novel and effective methods in sustainable agriculture. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are an alternative that benefits crop productivity and reduces the use of chemical inputs.

Question:

Have commercial and native mycorrhizal inoculants the same infectivity? Is the performance of maize seedlings affected by commercial and native inoculum type?

Study species:

Maize (Zea mays).

Study site and dates:

Greenhouse experiment, March 2016.

Methods:

The experimental design was unifactorial (five levels) and completely randomized: four mycorrhizal inocula (liquid, liquid mix, solid, and native AM spores), and one control (NM- inoculum). After a month of inoculating the seedlings, we harvested the plants, and the biomass and AM colonization were evaluated.

Results:

The seedlings without AM fungi had greater total, above- and belowground biomass compared with the inoculated seedlings. Only native and solid fungus treatments showed AM colonization in their roots. Our results are discussed in terms of soil mineral nutrient concentrations, cost-benefit of mycorrhizal symbiosis, edaphic origin of AM-native and contained of commercial inocula.

Conclusions:

The infectivity and effectiveness observed in the maize seedlings depends of mycorrhizal inoculum type.