Assessment of Agricultural Practices Impact on the Development of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi

Abstract

In natural environments, the development of plants depends on the interactions they maintain with their environment, in particular with soil microorganisms such as arbuscular  mycorrhizal fungi, especially since the used of inputs is scarce by the majority of farmers in Côte d’Ivoire. The present study was carried out to study the endomycorrhizogenic potential of the soils on which tomato, cashew and banana are grown. Place and Duration of Study: Soil sampling in bananas, cashews and tomatoes fields (July and August 2016), spore trapping in WASCAL (West African Science Service Center on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use) greenhouse in the city of Bingerville and spore extraction and identification in Laboratory of Biotechnology, Agriculture and Development of Biological Resources (September 2016 to March 2017).  Material and Methods: Soil samples were taken away from the same depth, 10 to 20 cm, in cashew, tomato or banana fields. They were then used for trap pot culture by sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.)] and cowpea [Vigna ungugulata (L.) Walp.]. The wet sieving revealed spore density and morphological diversity. Results: Spores were more abundant in the soils sampled under cashew (22 spores / gram of soil) in comparison to banana (9 spores / gram of soil) and tomato (3 spores / gram of soil). There were a real diversity of glomeromycete in the different agrosystems. There is a great richness and diversity of AMF spore form under cashew (18 morphotypes) in Côte d'Ivoire compared to tomato (2 morphotypes) and banana (4 morphotypes). Conclusion: Land use system impact spore richness and diversity. Controlled mycorrhization of cashew, tomato and banana could be considered.