Effect of Inoculation of Pineapple Plantlets with Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Obtained from Different Inoculum Sources Multiplied by the On-Farm Method

ABSTRACT The production of inoculum from arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) at a large scale and low cost is essential for establishing methods to assist in producing pineapple plantlets with high nutritional and phytosanitary quality. However, this objective is difficult to accomplish because of the biotrophic nature of these fungi. The on-farm multiplication method for AMF inoculum presents a good alternative to supply the demand for the production of glomerospores. This study aimed to multiply and evaluate AMF inoculum originating from isolated species (including Rhizophagus clarus, Claroideoglomus etunicatum) versus native AMF from pineapple and coffee plantations multiplied by the on-farm method on the colonization in pineapple plantlets. Initially, inocula of R. clarus, C. etunicatum, and native AMF (pineapple and coffee) were multiplied by the on-farm method in Sorghum bicolor. After four months, the number of AMF spores and the percentage of viable spores at the layers of 0.00-0.05 and 0.05-0.10 m were evaluated. There were no differences in spore numbers in relation to the source of the inoculum (R. clarus, C. etunicatum, pineapple, and coffee) and evaluated layers, with an average number of 605 spores per 100 cm3 of soil. The percentage of viable spores was greater at the layer of 0.00-0.05 m (76.32 %) compared to the layer of 0.05-0.10 m (72.05 %), regardless of the inoculum source. The viability of the inoculum obtained from C. etunicatum was higher than that from the coffee crop (77.93 and 68.06 %, respectively). Subsequently, the spores were inoculated in pineapple plantlets to assess the rate of colonization. Pineapple plantlets inoculated with AMF had an average of colonization of 18 and 67.73 % after 50 and 180 days cultivation, respectively, with no significant difference being detected between treatments. Therefore, on-farm inoculum production was effective at multiplying the AMF of both isolates of R. clarus and C. etunicatum, as well as for commercial crops (pineapple and coffee), with spores having high viability. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi colonized pineapple plantlets independently of the inoculum utilized and favored its growth.