EFFECT OF ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZAL FUNGI (AMF) ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF SUNFLOWER (Helianthus annuus L.)

The arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are a group of plant growth promoting organisms related to improve the overall growth of various crops. Hence the present study was aimed to investigate the agronomical characteristics induced by AMF in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.). Three different indigenous AM fungi such as Glomus mosseae, Glomus fasiculatum, Acalospora scrobiculata isolated from the sunflower rhizosphere soil were used either alone or in various combinations for the study. The plants were sampled randomly at 40DAI, 60DAI, 85 DAI and used to analyze the number of leaves, root biomass, shoot biomass, root length, shoot length, head diameter and seeds weights. The obtained results clearly indicated that the AM significantly influenced all the morphological parameters when compared to uninoculated control.