Role of Vetiver Grass and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi in Improving Crops Against Abiotic Stresses

Abstract

Abstract In the developing countries like Pakistan, not only good quality lands are degraded due to wind and water erosion, water-logging and salinity, loss of organic matter and biodiversity etc. but also are contaminated with heavy metals. Various physical, chemical, and hydrological approaches are being developed and used to remediate such lands. Recently, an alternative approach, Vetiver System, which involves the use of Vetiver grass, Vetiveria zizinoides, is being explored to restore degraded land. It is able to act as a natural barrier against erosion and pollu- tion and produce massive odorous root system which can be used for the extraction of an essential oil of great economic importance. Most plants growing on degraded and heavy metals contaminated soils, including vetiver grass, possess arbuscular mycorr- hizae, indicating that these arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) have evolved a tolerance to HM and that they play an important role in the mycorrhizoreme- diation of stressed agricultural soils. The aim of this article is to discuss the possible role of Vetiver System and symbiotic arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi associ- ated with its root system in improving crops against abiotic stresses in soils.