نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی
عنوان مقاله English
نویسندگان English
Introduction: Soil microorganisms are crucial in mobilizing soil nutrients and nutrient uptake by plants. Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra L.), Fabaceae family, has been used as an important medicine since ancient times for numerous medicinal purposes. This plant is naturally found in arid and semi-arid areas around the world. In such environments, licorice roots are colonized by several types of microorganisms, including diverse rhizobia, other soil bacteria, such as Pseudomonas, actinomycetes, and Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). AMF are amongst the most important beneficial soil microorganisms for plant growth due to the formation of symbiotic relationships with plant roots, improving nutrient uptake and use efficiency. In licorice, the improvement of root performance has been reported with the application of fertilizer resources and mycorrhizal inoculation. Integrated nutrient resources can lead to synergistic effects in improving plant production and increasing productivity. Nevertheless, increasing the agronomic efficiency of different fertilizers is one of the most important challenges of agriculture.
Dealing with the improvement of seed production as a by-product, in addition to improving productivity, provides a propagating material that can greatly reduce the pressure on natural resources. So far, the sustainable production of licorice seeds has not been studied. Most studies have focused on root production and its quality characteristics. Therefore, this study was conducted to improve licorice root and seed production, as well as improve the agronomic efficiency of vermicompost and chemical fertilizers.
Materials and Methods: The present study investigated the integrated effect of inoculation with mycorrhiza on the diminished quantities of chemical and organic fertilizers on root production and agronomic efficiency of chemical fertilizers and vermicompost, yield components and seed yield of licorice. The experiment was conducted during two cropping seasons of 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 based on a randomized complete block design with three replications at the research farm of Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Iran. The evaluated treatments were included: 1) control (without fertilizer application and inoculation with mycorrhiza); 2) inoculation with mycorrhiza (AM); 3) Vermicompost (V100): 100% recommended rate (8 t ha-1); 4) 50% vermicompost (V50); 5) 50% vermicompost + mycorrhiza (V50+AM); 6) Chemical fertilizer (CF100): 100% of recommended rate; 7) 50% chemical fertilizer (CF50); 8) 50% chemical fertilizer + mycorrhiza (CF50+AM).
Results and Discussion: The results showed that the highest root yield was obtained from 50% vermicompost and mycorrhiza inoculation (V50+AM), which showed no significant difference with V100, CF100, and CF50 treatments. Meanwhile, the application of V50+AM treatment improved the root yield up to 42.5% compared to the control and 40% compared to V50. This led to an increase in the agronomic efficiency of the V50+AM treatment compared to other treatments. Integrated AM-inoculation and chemical fertilizers (CF50+AM) did not show a significant difference from CF50. Also, the results showed that mycorrhizal inoculation alone (AM) did not show the efficiency to improve root yield compared to the control, and reduced the mycorrhizal inoculation effect compared to integrated application with fertilizer sources. The results also showed that the highest seed yield was obtained from the application of V
کلیدواژهها English