Influence of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus and mulching on sepium based agroforestry system in southwestern Nigeria. Conservation Foundation.

cassava yield in Gliricidia Roan, 5, 93-99. Nigerian

INIOBONG E. OKON, Department of Botany, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria.

Abstract The effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus, Glomus deserticola, inoculation and mulching on cassava (Manihot esculenta, Crantz) cv TMS 30572 were studied in a Gliricidia sepium based agroforestry system in Ibadan, southwestern Nigeria. Results revealed that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus colonization of cassava roots followed a pattern of: inoculated - mulched > inoculated - unmulched > uninoculated - mulched > uninoculated - unmulched. Inoculation and mulching significantly (P < 0.05) increased root and shoot biomass yield of cassava. The yield of inoculated - unmulched cassava was comparable to uninoculated - mulched ones. Lowest yields were observed when cassava was planted without mulching and inoculation with G. deserticola. The study has shown that cassava production can be increased through combining gliricidia mulch application with Glomus deserticola inoculation in an agroforestry system.

Keywords: Agroforestry system, Gliricidia sepium, Glomus deserticola, mulching, cassava yield

Introduction The major challenges sub-Saharan region of Africa faces are those of poverty and food shortage. Most agricultural lands in the humid and sub-humid tropics are on poor acid soils (Suwarjo et al., 1985). Besides, soil erosion has rendered unproductive vast areas of these soils. Improving soil fertility thus becomes an entry point to achieving food security, reducing poverty and preserving the environment for small holder farmers (Jarma et al., 2006). Inorganic fertilizer applications often lead to acidity problems (Kang et al., 1990; Vaidya et al., 2008). Under these conditions maintaining adequate levels of soil organic matter through mulching or judicious crop residue
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management as well as ensuring the proper soil aggregate maintenance by plant roots will not only allow for sustainable crop production but also conserve the soil. Agroforestry is a system of agriculture which combines the cultivation of trees and shrubs with arable crops and livestock. This integration of trees into the system protects the soil from degradation by preventing soil erosion. The roots of these trees also reach deeper into the soil to extract nutrients beyond the rooting zone of most arables and bring them to the soil surface through leaf fall and decay, mulching or surface root decay. Nodulating trees also help to enrich the soil through biological nitrogen fixation. Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is a root tuber crop mostly cultivated by resource poor farmers. Its nutrient requirements is high and each harvest removes a substantial amount of it to the effect that subsequent years yield always requires nutrient replenishment. The use of inorganic fertilizer is not only beyond the reach of these poor farmers but the adverse impact on the environment has also made the option undesirable. Organic matter application turns out therefore to be the most environmental friendly alternative for both nutrient replenishment and soil stabilization. This is where mulch application can be adopted at little or no cost. Since cassava is highly mycorrhizal (Carretero et al., 2009), inoculation with appropriate arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus will improve its production in these marginal or degraded soils of the tropics. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are known to play important roles in nutrient acquisition from the soil by plants (Abo-Ghalia and Khalafallah, 2008).Together with mulch application, their beneficial effects have been greatly enhanced (Shrestha et al., 2008). The integration of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi with suitable agroforestry system management technologies appears a promising alternative that can alleviate the problem of cassava production in the nutrient poor soils of the tropics. This study was carried out to investigate the effects of Glomus deserticola inoculation and mulching on the yield of cassava in a Gliricidia sepium based agroforestry system. Materials and Methods The experiment was conducted in a twelve years old Gliricidia sepium agroforestry plot fallowed for two years at the Department of Botany & Microbiology Research Farm, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria (Latitute 730`N, Longitude 354`E). The total rainfall for the experimental period was 974.50mm while the total evaporation was 1398.10mm. The experimental area consisted mainly of G. sepium irregularly planted without any pattern with a population density of 2,500 trees/hectare. Other shrubs were eliminated during clearing. The soil type was sandy loam. Analysis of pooled representative top soil samples (0-30cm) revealed it contained 0.07% total N; 2.34 extractable P (mg kg-1) Bray1; 2.52; 0.71; 0.11; 0.10 and 0.27cmol kg-1, Ca, Mg, K, Na, and Mn respectively.

Experimental layout and design The layout consisted of a 2-factor randomized complete block design with three replications. The main treatments were arbuscular mycorrhiza fungus (AMF) inoculated (M+) and uninoculated (M-) arranged in blocks to reduce the possibility of propagules transfer to uninoculated plots while mulch application constituted the second factor. Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) cv TMS 30572 cuttings, 0.20m long, were planted on heaps in 1210m plots at 11m spacing. Cuttings for AMF inoculated plots were planted on 20g crude inoculum consisting of 440-610 spores in 100g dry soil, hyphae and maize root fragments colonized by G. deserticola (INVAM,CA,113) while those for uninoculated plots were given autoclaved equivalent. The G. sepium were pruned at three months intervals and half of the cassava stands in each plot were mulched with 0.5 t ha-1 dry matter equivalent of leaves while the other half were left unmulched. Manual weeding was done as at when necessary. At the end of twelve months after planting, the cassava was harvested for growth and yield measurements. Cassava stems and leaves dry weights were determined by oven drying at 70C to constant dry weight while tuber fresh weights were taken at harvest. Mycorrhizal dependency of cassava tuber yield upon G. deserticola was expressed as the difference between the fresh tuber weight of inoculated and uninoculated cassava in percentage of total tuber fresh weight of inoculated ones. Cassava root tuber yield response to mulching was calculated as the difference in yield between mulched and unmulched treatments expressed in percentage. Percentage AMF colonization was assessed by clearing and staining feeder roots using Koske and Gemma (1989) procedure for clearing and detecting mycorrhizas. The percentage root colonization was determined by grid line intersect method of Giovanetti and Mosse (1980). All data were subjected to a combined analysis of variance using the Windows version of Statistical Analysis System (SAS 1996). Mean values were compared using Duncans Multiple Range Test (DMRT) at 0.05 level of probability when the F-ratio was significant. Results Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) colonization. Cassava root colonization by arbuscular mycorrhiza was highest in inoculated, mulched plots and lowest in uninoculated unmulched ones (Table 1).

Table 1 Effects of AMF inoculation and mulching on the yield components of cassava 3

Treatment M+mul+ M+mulM-mul+ M-mulLSD

AMF (%) *81.0a 72.0b 58.3c 43.7d 5.0

TFW (tha-1) 18.7a 9.3b 9.2b 5.3c 1.7

SDW (tha-1) 4.6a 2.4b 2.2b 1.0c 0.7

LDW (tha-1) 1.3a 0.8b 0.8b 0.2c 0.1

M+mul+ :Inoculated and mulched; M+mul- : Inoculated, unmulched; M-mul+ :Uninoculated and mulched; M-mul- : Uninoculated, unmulched; AMF (%): Mycorrhizal colonization; TFW: Tuber fresh weight; SDW: Stem dry weight; LDW: Leaf dry weight. *Means of three replicates. Means within column followed by different letters are significantly different at P<0.05 according to Duncans multiple range test.

Table 2. Mycorrhizal dependency and tuber yield response to mulch of cassava Treatment M+mul+
+

MD (%)
*

TYRM (%)
*

47.32.4a

50.60a

mul-

42.60.9b _ _

_ 44.16b

M-mul+ M-mul-

M+mul+ :Inoculated and mulched; M+mul- : Inoculated, unmulched; M-mul+ :Uninoculated and mulched; M-mul- : Uninoculated, unmulched. MD: Mycorrhizal dependency; TYRM: Tuber yield response to mulch; * Means of three replicates s.e. Mean values within each column followed by different letters are significantly different at P < 0.05 according to Duncans multiple range test.

Cassava biomass production. Inoculation with G. deserticola significantly increased leaf, stem and root tuber yields of cassava (Table 1). Mulching significantly enhanced the efficiency of AMF and together they produced a significantly higher yield than either inoculated or mulching alone (Table 1). Inoculated, unmulched plots produced cassava tuber yields comparable to uninoculated, mulched plots (Table 1). Mulched cassava tuber yields showed higher mycorrhizal dependence than the unmulched ones while inoculated cassava showed higher response to mulching than uninoculated (Table 2).
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Discussion The highest AMF colonization in inoculated and mulched cassava is in line with the findings of Shrestha et al., (2008) that addition of organic matter to soil increases AMF colonization and spore populations in agricultural systems. Boswell et al., (1998) also observed that mycorrhizal colonization of maize roots was increased by cover cropping. Mulching must have therefore conserved the soil moisture and nutrients as well as increased soil porosity thereby making the soil conducive for mycorrhizal infection, hyphal extension and increased root growth. G. sepium mulch has been shown to increase soil bulk density (Arachchi and Liyanage, 1996), a condition which is favourable to mycorrhizal colonization (Sylvia and Williams, 1992). With its high C : N ratio of 8 (Okon et al., 2010), the decomposing G. sepium leaves must have stimulated the growth of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (Ravnskov et al., 1999). The increased growth and biomass production in inoculated cassava can be attributed to increased water and nutrient uptake enhanced by G. deserticola (Smith and Gianinazzi-Pearson, 1988), increased chlorophyll synthesis in the leaves (Malekzade et al., 2009) leading to increased photosynthesis and biomass production as well as a possible efficient soil organic matter protection through soil aggregate maintenance (Cardoso and Kuyper, 2006). Increased yield of cassava in mulched plots can be attributed to nutrient addition to the soil and improved soil physical properties by the mulch. The similarity in yield between inoculated, unmulched and uninoculated, mulched cassava is an indication that G. deserticola enhances yield by reaching out beyond the nutrient depletion zone by means of extra radical hyphae to extract nutrient for its host. In the presence of mulch, nutrients were made available within reach of the cassava roots, hence growth could still be appreciably sustained. The higher response of inoculated cassava to mulch application is an indication of the possibility of maximizing cassava yield through the integration of mycorrhiza inoculation and mulch application technology. Conclusion The efficiency of agroforestry system can be greatly improved by integration with suitable arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus. The incorporated trees serve as in-situ source of green mulch. Increased cassava production can thus be achieved through mulch application in conjunction with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus inoculation. This evidence suggests that resource poor farmers can sustainably boost their cassava production without inorganic fertilizer application.

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