A SIGNIFICANT QUALITY STANDARD IN TERMS OF PERCENT ROOT COLONIZATION FOR EFFECTIVITY OF THE ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZAL (AM) INOCULUM

With a prime motive to confirm the high quality of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal (AM) inoculum that is widely used as an important biofertilizer, an effort was taken to standardize the per cent colonized root bits that have to be present in an AM inoculum. Initial analysis on AM colonization for the effectivity of the AM inoculum revealed that 80 per cent to 100 per cent root colonization enhanced the growth performance of the host plant with better mycorrhizal responses which were assessed in terms of per cent root colonization and viable spore count of Glomus intraradices when the substrate vermiculite was amended with 10 per cent soil compared to vermiculite alone at 60 days. Thus, presence of > 80 per cent colonized root bits in AM inoculum was standardized as one of the quality control parameter of AM inoculum which can be adopted to certify a high quality AM product commercially.