Seed Coating with Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi for Improved Production of Chickpea
 
Although arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are known to promot growth and yield of agricultural crops, inoculation methods for effective scaling up from greenhouse to the field are still underexplored. The application of single or mixed beneficial AM fungal isolates is hindered by the lack of experimental reproducibility of findings at different scales and the cost-effectivity of inoculation methods. Seed coating has been considered a feasible delivery system of AM fungal inocula for   agricultural crops. In this study, the impact of single and multiple   AM fungal isolates applied via seed coating on chickpea productivity  was evaluated under greenhouse and field conditions.  Overall, plants inoculated with multiple AM fungal isolates had   better performance than those inoculated with single AM isolate   under greenhouse and field conditions. While plants in greenhouse displayed higher shoot dry weight (14%) and seed individual   weight (21%), in field, inoculation with multiple AM isolates   increased pod (160%), and seed (148%) numbers, and grain yield  (140%). Under field conditions, mycorrhizal root colonization was   significantly higher in chickpea plants inoculated with multiple AM   fungal isolates compared to other treatments. These findings   highlight the potential of field-inoculation with multiple AM fungal   isolates via seed coating as a sustainable agricultural practice for chickpea production. 

 

Conclusions

The selection of AM fungal isolates that relates to host plant and crop growing conditions is essential to achieve good mycorrhizal efficiency and to obtain economical profits from crop productivity. Summarizing the main results obtained in this study, the application of multiple AM fungal isolates seemed to be a potential strategy to boost chickpea productivity, when compared to the inoculation of single AM isolate. Seed coating can be an appropriate tool to deliver AM fungi and the combined use of multiple isolates exhibited benefits for chickpea plants at different experimental scales, but the effect was especially relevant under field conditions. To our knowledge, this is the first field evidence of improved enhanced yield of chickpea inoculated with AM fungi via seed coating. Although greenhouse trials represent a prospective indication of microbial field-application potential, results are not necessarily representative in each case. In this sense, information provided by the combination of greenhouse and field trials is highly valuable and the simultaneous approach should be considered for further experimental designs. Integrating AM fungi into agricultural systems via seed coating in order to increase grain yield of crops is a potential valid approach for sustainable agriculture.

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