Rhizophagus irregularis and P Fertilization Induce Carica papaya Growth after the Acclimatization Phase

Abstract

Carica papaya L. or “papaya” is a very important species in which many technological packages have been implemented, such as fertilization and inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). However, no studies have been conducted to evaluate the interaction between phosphorous (P) fertilization and AMF in in vitro-propagated papaya plantlets after the acclimatization phase. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of Rhizophagus irregularis and P on C. papaya growth. Papaya plants were propagated in vitro and received the treatments after taking root and being acclimatized for 15 days. The plants were inoculated with 0, 2, and 5 grams of R. irregularis and fertilized with 0, 30, and 60 ppm of P. Growth was evaluated after 45 days. All the analyzed shoot variables showed maximum growth when the plants were treated with 5 g of AMF and 60 ppm of P. Likewise, there was a significant increase in the number of leaves and leaf area index. In the root, the increase was higher in the fresh weight, but no statistical differences were found in its length. These results indicate that AMF and P are responsible for the increase in growth. Furthermore, the relatively high correlation between the percentage of mycorrhization and the other variables was not affected by the concentrations of P applied. The use of R. irregularis and P significantly increased the growth of C. papaya L. after the acclimatization phase.

Keywords

• arbuscular mycorrhiza
• fertilization
• mycorrhizae
• papayas
• phosphate fertilizers