Effects of mycorrhizas on hydraulic conductivity in micrografted myrobolan 29c rootstocks

Agriculture is based on a simplification of relationships between plant and other components of the natural habitats. However, in a vision of sustainable environment management and new market demands, it should be necessary to focus on plant quality, increasing the anthropic input efficiency. The work aims to estimate and compare the effects of two beneficial fungi, Glomus intraradices and Trichoderma harzianum T22, on plant water uptake and transport, and on plant growth. Micropropagated Myrobolan 29C rootstocks, treated in acclimatisation stage and grown in pots, were micrografted with the cultivar ‘Portici’, by chip budding technique. The effects of both Glomus and Trichoderma colonisation were measured on hydraulic conductivity and plant growth at the end of the growing season. The root hydraulic conductivity of treated plants, calculated on the whole root system, doubled, was compared to a control. There were no significant differences between Glomus and Trichoderma treatments. The mycorrhisation with Glomus and soil colonisation with Trichoderma improved plant growth (total biomass) in comparison to untreated plants of about 24 and 38% respectively.