Mycorrhizal inoculation and phosphorus fertilization effect on growth and yield of processing tomato.

The application of Arbuscular Mycorrhizae (AM) can be useful in agricultural sustainable systems. It has been demonstrate that AM association enhances phosphorus (P) uptake by plant roots. As a result of the increased P uptake, AM plants frequently yield more than without AM. The aim of this work was to evaluate the influence of P fertilization and mycorrhiza application on growth, yield and plant P-content of a tomato crop. Three rates Of P2O5 (0, 60, 120 kg.ha(-1)) were compared with (WM) or without (NM) mycorrhizal inoculation in the soil with Glomus intraradices strains. During the crop growing season, leaf area, fresh and dry weight of the leaves, stems and fruits were assessed. At the harvest, plant P-content, total and marketable yield were determined. The effect of mycorrhization on the growth of the crop was evident from the second month of cultivation when the fastest increase of the plant leaf area index was registered. The greatest fresh biomass (5.7 kg per plant) and total yield (127 t.ha(-1)) were obtained with 60 kg.ha(-1) of P2O5 under mycorrhizzated conditions; the highest number of total and marketable fruits (71 and 61 per plant, respectively) and marketable yield (113 t.ha(-1)) were recorded with the WM treatment. The presence of G. intraradices in the soil improved the phosphorus assimilation by tomato plants. In the WM treatment the stems and the fruits P content was 0.22 and 0.58 g.100g(-1) DM respectively, while in NM it was 0.21 and 0.53 g.100g(-1) DM, respectively. In the fruits, the P content resulted also improved when the mycorrhized plants were fertilized with 60 kg.ha(-1) of P205 (0.59 g.100g(-1) DM).