Abstract

Channabasava A. and H. C. Lakshman

The present study was undertaken to elucidate the effect of different Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on growth, biomass and phosphorus uptake by rare millets. Glomus fasciculatum, Glomus macrocarpum Glomus bagyarajii and Sclerocystis dussii were used as AM fungal inocula. The millets inoculated with AM fungus Glomus fasciculatum showed increased value for growth, biomass and phosphorus uptake over the remaining treatments, but all the AM fungi inoculated rare millets had shown significantly greater values for the biomass growth over the non-inoculated ones. Mycorrhizal inoculation helped in enhancing the biomass of plant, per cent mycorrhizal colonization and spore number due to increased uptake of mineral nutrients. Throughout the present study, beneficial effect of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on four rare millets had been assessed.