A COMPARISON OF AM FUNGI INOCULANTS USING CAPSICUM AND POLIANTHES IN MARGINAL SOIL AMENDED WITH ORGANIC-MATTER

Different types of nursery inocula formulations, namely mixed indigeno us cultures and Glomus intraradices Schenck and Smith, were compared w ith commercially available inoculants of AM fungi in a pot experiment using two horticultural crops, Capsicum and Polianthes. Soil-based ino cula and soil beads produced the highest response in both crops. Glomu s intraradices resulted in the highest yield in both Polianthes (45% i ncrease in spike length) and Capsicum (112% increase in fruit yield). Among the commercial inocula tested, only Mycorise enhanced spike leng th (33%) and fruit yield (11%) in the two hosts. Overall AM colonizati on was higher in Polianthes than in Capsicum. Sheared root inocula of G. intraradices resulted in high colonization (upto 68%) but the yield enhancement was lower than with soil-based formulations. The mixed in digenous culture produced the highest number of spores and propagules and commercial inocula the lowest.