Influence of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on rooting ability of auxin treated stem cuttings of dalbergia melanoxylon (Guill and perr.)

Abstract

In efforts to optimize vegetative propagation of Dalbergia melanoxylon, the effects of inoculationof Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) on rooting ability of D. melanoxylon stem cuttings treatedwith auxin Indole-3-Butyric Acid (IBA) were investigated. Three inoculum levels of AMF namelycontrol, 1:1 and 1:2 (v/v) ratio of inoculum to propagation substrate, respectively and two levels ofcutting types designated as middle and basal cutting positions were used. Rooting parameters interms of rooting percentage, root number, root length and root dry weight were evaluated. Analysisof variance revealed that the effect of AMF inoculation was significant (p<0.001) only for percentrooting and root dry weight among the rooting parameters evaluated. The effect of cutting type andthe interactive effect of inoculation and cutting type were insignificant for all studied rootingparameters. Comparisons of means by Duncan’s Multiple Range Test (DMRT) for the differenttreatments revealed that the quantity of inoculum significantly (p<0.05) influenced highperformance in all rooting parameters evaluated. The highest percentages in rooting was (67.28%)for the cuttings from basal position. The study has revealed a strong AMF influence on rootingability of auxin treated stem cuttings in D. melanoxylon. It was concluded that for vegetativepropagation, AMF inoculum should be used for auxin treated cuttings to produce high qualityplanting stock material for the afforestation and conservation programme for D. melanoxylon.