Effectiveness of mycorrhizal inoculation on sweet potato nutrition and NPK fertilization in Cuban Cambisols
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15517/z8vtj702Keywords:
arbuscular mycorrhizae, Ipomea batatas, mycorrhizal symbiosis, agronomic efficiency, yieldsAbstract
Introduction. Sweet potato has high nutritional requirements. It is a mycotroph crop, and in Cuba, its production is limited by the low availability of fertilizers. Objectives. To evaluate the effectiveness of mycorrhizal inoculation on the nutrition and specific supply of primary macronutrients in two sweet potato cultivars over two planting seasons. Materials and methods. Six fertilization response curve experiments were conducted on Eutric Cambisols soils in Santo Domingo, Villa Clara, Cuba, from 2014 to 2016, with two experiments for each macronutrient (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium), one during the rainy period and one during the low-rainfall period. Each experiment evaluated five doses of the target macronutrient, with and without inoculation of Rhizoglomus irregulare / INCAM-11, under a fixed background supply of the other two macronutrients. Trials were conducted on the cultivars INIVIT B-2-2005 and CEMSA 78-354 using a split-plot design with four replicates, repeated twice. Yields, macronutrient concentrations, colonization frequency, spores, and fertilizer agronomic efficiency were evaluated. Results. Positive and direct effects of inoculation on the yields and nutrition of each macronutrient were found. Inoculation required lower doses of fertilizers to guarantee yields and macronutrient concentrations equal to or higher than those obtained with mineral fertilizers alone and with a higher fertilizer agronomic efficiency. Mycorrhizal performance depended on the doses of macronutrients applied. A high and direct relationship was established between the colonization frequency and the yield of the inoculated cultivars, with higher values of both variables in the rainy period. The cultivars always behaved similarly to each other. Conclusions. INCAM-11 inoculation of sweet potato cultivars acted directly and positively on the nutrition and fertilization efficiency of each NPK macroelement. The fertilizer doses for these inoculated cultivars growing on Eutric Cambisols were 60, 50, and 75 kg ha-1 of N, P2O5, and K2O for both planting seasons.
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