Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Biofertilizers Sources in the Potato (solanum Tuberosum) Plant Show Interactions With Cultivars On Yield and Litter-bags Spectral Features - Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Biofertilizers Sources in the Potato (solanum Tuberosum) Plant Show Interactions With Cultivars On Yield and Litter-bags Spectral Features - Open Access Pub

Four strains of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal (AM) biofertilizer fungi, combined with two potato cultivars, were in-field tested in a four-replicate arrangement in a factorial experiment. As far as general combinability is concerned, cv. Agria was more responsive to different inocula (yield +5.56%, P 0.02) and to two strains in particular (+8%). On the other hand, the results with Innovator, a cultivar that yields 33% less than Agria, showed a significant reduction in the number of tubers for three AM strains, thus proving a clear genetic Biofertilizer * Cultivar interaction. The study of hay litter-bags has shown a high NIR spectral fingerprint for the Cultivar factor (81%), while the Inoculation factor showed a higher spectral fingerprint in Agria (76%) than in Innovator (65%). The Substrate Induced Respiration predicted from the NIR-SCiO spectra of the litter-bags was significantly increased after inoculation (+6.3%, P 0.04), but appeared lower for Agria (-5.4%) vs. Innovator (P 0.05), with a non-significant interaction. The obtained results show that the adaptation of the AM strains to the genetics of potato cultivars is a first step toward reducing chemical inputs, with consequent benefits for the environment, but without an excessive reduction in yield. The litter-bag technique can therefore be recommended for a simplified monitoring of the complicated plant-mycorrhizosphere relationship. DOI10.14302/issn.2639-3166.jar-20-3185 In 1990, Reganold et al.1 pointed out that sustainability in agriculture was afflicted by serious problems: “high energy costs, groundwater contamination, soil erosion, loss of productivity, depletion of fossil resources, low farm incomes and risks to human health and wildlife habitats”. Thirty years later, progress in agriculture has increased crop yields to face the rapidly growing human population, which is increasing at a rate of 70 million per year. However, the greater use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, as a result of the spread of animal husbandry and therefore of the increased leaching of excreta, has led to a greater pollution of the environment, through poisoning of the air, soil and water, which in turn has led to the accumulation of toxic residues in food, as well as the development of the resistance of pests. As a result, less invasive remedies, such as reduced tillage, organic farming and botanical insecticides have been introduced2. Moreover, since much of humanity is fed inadequately and many food productive systems have been pushed beyond safe boundaries, a radical transformation in modern agriculture,