Soil Amendment with Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi and Biochar Improves Salinity Tolerance, Growth, and Lipid Metabolism of Common Wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.)

Ndiaye Ibra Ndiate, Qamar uz Zaman, Imade Nosakahre Francis, Oyeyemi Adigun Dada, Abdul Rehman, Muhammad Asif, Deborah Goffner, Aboubacry Kane, Cai Liqun and Fasih Ullah Haider
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Ndiaye Ibra Ndiate: Department of Agroecology, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China
Qamar uz Zaman: Department of Environmental Sciences, The University of Lahore-Lahore, Punjab 54590, Pakistan
Imade Nosakahre Francis: Plant Science and Biotechnology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Ambrose Alli University, University Road, Ekpoma 310104, Edo State, Nigeria
Oyeyemi Adigun Dada: Department of Crop Protection and Environmental Biology, University of Ibadan, Ibadan 200132, Oyo State, Nigeria
Abdul Rehman: Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur 63100, Pakistan
Muhammad Asif: Institute of Horticultural Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan
Deborah Goffner: Department of Plant Biology, Faculty of Sciences and Techniques, Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD), Dakar-Fann, Senegal, Bel Air Research Center, International Common Laboratory for the Adaptation of Plants and Microorganisms Associated with Environmental Stress, Dakar, Senegal, Bel Air Research Center, IRD/Senegalese Institute of Agricultural Research (ISRA)/UCAD Common Microbiology Laboratory, Dakar 12500, Senegal
Aboubacry Kane: Department of Plant Biology, Faculty of Sciences and Techniques, Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD), Dakar-Fann, Senegal, Bel Air Research Center, International Common Laboratory for the Adaptation of Plants and Microorganisms Associated with Environmental Stress, Dakar, Senegal, Bel Air Research Center, IRD/Senegalese Institute of Agricultural Research (ISRA)/UCAD Common Microbiology Laboratory, Dakar 12500, Senegal
Cai Liqun: Department of Agroecology, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China
Fasih Ullah Haider: Department of Agroecology, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 6, 1-18

Abstract: Salt stress in soils impacts grain crop yield. Soil amendment with biochar and arbuscular mycorrhizal alone has been analyzed to improve the growth of several crops under salinity stress. However, the combined application of biochar and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi for the remediation of salinity and improvement of crop productivity in wheat are rarely discussed and have remained unclear. Therefore, this experiment was performed to investigate the effect with biochar (150 g biochar per each treated pot containing 3 kg soil) and/or arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (20 g AMF inoculum containing 80% mycorrhizal roots, 100–160 spores, and extraradical hyphae per each treated pot) on the productivity of wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) under four salt stress gradients; 0, 50, 100, and 150 mM NaCl. The results show salinity significantly reduced plant height (9.9% to 22.9%), shoot fresh weight (35.6% to 64.4%), enzymatic activities (34.1% to 39.3%), and photosynthetic pigments—i.e., total chlorophyll contents (75.0%) and carotenoids contents (56.2%) of plants—as compared with control. Under exclusive biochar application, the plants were moderately tolerant to salinity stress, which was evident in their growth, moderately reduced fatty acid content, partially impaired enzymatic activity, and photosynthetic pigments, while under the exclusive AMF application, the wheat plants were relatively sensitive to salinity stress, resulting in impaired growth rate, decreased unsaturated fatty acid composition, enzymatic activity, and photosynthetic pigments. Conversely, under the co-application of biochar and AMF, wheat plants partially increased plant height (14.1%), shoot fresh biomass (75.7%), root fresh biomass (24.9%), partially increased enzymatic activity (49.5%), and unimpaired photosynthetic pigments (30.2% to 54.8%) of wheat under salinity stress. Current findings concluded that exclusive incorporation of biochar, and the synergistic application of AMF and biochar, could be utilized as a promising way to reduce the deleterious effects of salinity stress in wheat production.

Keywords: agronomic traits; antioxidant enzymes; Triticum aestivum L.; fatty acid; soil amendment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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