Vol. 4, Issue 1, Part A (2022)

Valuing mycorrhizae is a potential alternative to the use of fertilizers and phytosanitary products. This study aimed at evaluating the effect of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) on the growth of tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum Mill.). The trial was conducted in a greenhouse for 4 months. Inoculation of tomato with the four AMF strains was compared to the control (non-inoculated plant) in a simple randomized design. Height growth of inoculated tomato plants varied among treatments with different strains of AMF. Glomus intraradices resulted in high stem growth (59.12±2.12 cm). The effect of AMF inoculation was significant on the growth of neck diameter of tomato plants. The Glomus fasciculatum strain showed a larger value (13.66±0.82 mm) followed by Glomus mosseae; (12.46±0.20 mm) and Glomus intraradices (11.99±0.42 mm) in diameter. The number of leaves produced per plant differed significantly between plants inoculated with the different strains of AMF and those not inoculated. The average number of leaves (32.2 and 30 leaves/plant) respectively with the plants inoculated with Glomus mosseae and Glomus intraradices. The best average number of branches (4.33±1.25) was obtained with the Glomus fasciculatum strain. The highest values were obtained with the Glomus aggregatum strain (149.57 g) for total fresh biomass and 36.56 g for total dry biomass.