Effect of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on early growth, root colonization, and chlorophyll content of North Maluku nutmeg cultivars

• Published in: Open agriculture Vol. 8; no. 1; pp. 201 - 6
• Main Authors: Sulistiono, Wawan, Aji, Himawan Bayu, Handoko, Sigid, Lase, Jonathan Anugrah, Suryanti, Suryanti, Apriyana, Yayan, Rizal, Molide
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: De Gruyter 29.08.2023
• Subjects: AMF inoculation; biomass; chlorophyll; growth; nutmeg cultivars; root colonization
• ISSN: 2391-9531; 2391-9531
• DOI: 10.1515/opag-2022-0215

This study aimed to investigate the agronomic traits of nutmeg transplanting by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) inoculation. The low-fertility soil of Sofifi North Maluku was subjected to a slow early growth stage of nutmeg cultivars. A completely randomized design was used in the experiment. The first factor was three different AMF doses: 0, 4, and 8 g seedlings . The second factor consisted of three cultivars: “Ternate 1,” “Tobelo 1,” and “Makian.” Root colonization and agronomic traits were measured 28 weeks after inoculation and transplantation. Results showed that AMF inoculation increased the AM colonization by 2.5–39.0%, significantly increased the leaf area (LA) ( < 0.01) in all cultivars, and interacted with cultivars to increase chlorophyll a ( ) ( < 0.05), chlorophyll b ( ) ( < 0.01), and total ( < 0.01). Cultivars “Makian” showed the highest (188.4%) at 8 g seedling doses of AMF that were significantly ( < 0.01) different from the cultivar “Tobelo 1” at the same dose. The largest mycorrhizal response was found in the cultivar “Ternate 1” (biomass increase of 30–37.0%). The cultivar “Ternate 1” produced the largest LA (36.7–106.9%) and shoot dry weight (27.8–45.8%) that were significantly ( < 0.01) different from the other cultivars. The percentage of AM colonization was strongly determined ( = 0.88) by , and K content in leaves. This technology is a breakthrough to increase LA and plant biomass in the early growth stage of nutmeg cultivation.