Key Takeaways
- Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF): Potential in enhancing plant nutrient uptake and reducing stress.
- Sustainable Agriculture: Exploring alternatives to mineral fertilizers and pesticides for environmental sustainability.
- Variable Growth Responses: Significant variability in maize growth response to AMF, ranging from -12% to +40%.
On-Farm Experiments in Switzerland
54 Fields Study: Lutz et al. (2023) conducted extensive experiments across 54 fields to assess the impact of AMF on maize growth, marking a substantial advancement in field inoculation trials.
Key Findings
1. Predicting Plant Growth Response: With minimal soil parameters and primarily soil microbiome indicators, the study successfully predicted 86% of the variation in maize growth response to AMF inoculation.
2. Role of Pathogenic Fungi: Surprisingly, pathogenic fungi, more than nutrient availability, emerged as the best predictor (33%) for the success of AMF inoculation.
Implications for Sustainable Agriculture
Soil Microbiome as a Biotechnological Tool: The findings of the Swiss Study underscore the soil microbiome’s role in predicting inoculation success at the season’s start, offering a sustainable approach to agricultural management.
Profitability and Efficiency: The predictability afforded by microbiome indicators potentially enhances the profitability and efficiency of microbiome engineering in agriculture.
Read the complete swiss study on Nature Communication.
Photo by Mark Holloway on Unsplash
