Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
1999). The percent P solubilized in medium containing TCP and RP by the fungi
ranged from 34.2 to 58 % and from 16.6 to 36.6 %, respectively. Among PSF,
C. pallescens
(NFCCI 1996) produced the highest soluble P while
A. alternata
(NFCCI 1994) had the lowest PSA when grown in medium supplemented with
TCP.
Trichoderma viride
(NFCCI 1999) showed a variable PSA. Posada
et al. (
2013
) isolated fungal isolates from 8 coffee plantations in Columbia and
Mexico.
Cylindrocarpon didymum
and
C. obtusisporum
(both from Columbia)
could solubilize 9.9 and 6.4 mg PO
4
3
P/l and accumulated 8.6 and 11.6 mg P in
biomass. However,
Penicillium janthinellum
and
Paecilomyces marquandii
(both
from Mexico) solubilized 7 and 1.9 mg PO
4
3
P/l and accumulated 11.3 and
17.3 mg P in biomass.
4.6 Some Examples of Impact of PSF on Plant Growth
Several plants have shown dramatic increase in growth following PSF application.
The list of groups of plants positively influenced by PSF application is given in
Table
4.3
.
4.6.1 Cereals
4.6.1.1 Maize and Corn
In a study, Richa et al. (
2007
) showed that
A. tubingensis and A. niger
inoculation
improved the growth of maize (
Zea mays
) and the level of P in shoots. In a similar
investigation, the single and mixture of 3 genera [
Aspergillus
(
2 species
),
Penicil-
lium
,(
2 species
)
and Cephalosporium
sp.] of RP-solubilizing fungi were used in the
presence and absence of organic fertilizer (chicken manure) to assess their impact
on corn (Kassim and Al-Zandinany
2011
). Rock phosphate was added at a fixed rate
(88 kg/ha). Vegetative growth of corn was used as an indicator and plants were
grown for 60 days, during which, P availability was measured at a 2-week interval.
Dry matter accumulation in shoots and roots of inoculated/uninoculated plants and
the uptake of P by the corn plant was measured. Results indicated that the total
amount of P solubilized, expressed as percentage of the added RP in the presence of
organic fertilizer, was 41.5 % in soil inoculated with the mixture of fungi which was
followed by single application of
Penicillium
(37.3 %),
Aspergillus
and
Cephalosporium
(36.6 %), resulting in an increase of 31.8 %, 22.5 % and 20 %
over control plants, respectively. Recently, Patil et al. (
2012
) evaluated the ability
of
P. bilaiae and Penicillium
spp. and different P levels on growth, yield and
nutrient content in maize grown in calcareous soil. Seed inoculation with PSF
along with P
2
O
5
significantly influenced plant height, number of leaves per plant,
dry matter production, cob length, grain weight per cob, 1,000 grain weight, grain
