CHANGES IN GROWTH CHARACTERS OF TWO CUCURBITS INOCULATED WITH MYCORRHIZA AND AUGMENTED WITH POUL....

The effects of inoculating Cucurbita maxima and Telfairia occidentalis with the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Rhizophagus irregularis and Glomus geosporum on growth parameters and photosynthetic pigments in saline soil enriched with poultry dung were investigated (PM). Ibeno provided saline soil and salt water, while Etinan, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, provided non-saline soil. A complete block design was used to set up the experiment in triplicates (CBD). The electrical conductivity (EC) of the saline soil was 6.70 dS/m, while the EC of the garden soil was 0.29 dS/m. The saline soil treatment reduced percentage germination, shoot length, petiole length, internode length, and leaf area considerably (p=0.05). The total photosynthetic pigments of the test plants were significantly reduced (p=0.05) when the soil was saline. In both saline and non-saline treatments, inoculation with AMF alone or in combination with PM enhanced growth metrics in the two test plants. The findings reveal that AMF and PM synergy can improve the test plants' ability to tolerate salt stress by causing morphological and physiological changes, as well as increased vigour due to the large network of mycorrhizal roots that promotes nutrient intake.

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