Symbiotic response of three tropical maize varieties to Eco-friendly Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal inoculation in Marginal soil

The effect of three Glomus species on growth parameters in term of shoot length, root length, dry weight proximate composition and quantitative evaluation of mycorrhizal dependency of four tropical maize ( Zea mays ) varieties i.e. Jalal, Iqbal, Azam and Sarhad white were evaluated. The Arbuscular mycorrhizal ( AM) inoculated plants showed significantly better performance than the non-inoculated plants in terms of plant height, root length and dry weight. Proximate analysis showed enhancement in crude protein, fat, moisture and ash content in mycorrhizal plants except carbohydrate and crude fibers. Regarding mycorrhizal dependency (M.D), maximum value was noted in Azam (60.03%) variety while least was observed in Iqbal variety (9.37%). while root colonization ranged from 86-100% in studied maize varieties. This study clearly indicates the potential of using indigenous AM fungi ( Glomus species) as bio fertilizer in maize crop in low fertility soils hence reduce chemical fertilizer input and proved to be environment friendly.