Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi improve jalapeño pepper plants ( Capsicum annuum L.) establishment under conditions

Abstract

Salinity reduces crop production by up to 50 \%. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the commercial product Suppra (R) (R) as a mycorrhizal inoculum on the morphology and yield of jalape \& ntilde;o pepper plants ( Capsicum annuum L.) in soil with a high concentration of salinity. The plants were inoculated with the product Suppra (R) (R) at doses of 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0 g / plant, using non-inoculated plants as a control. During the production stage, morphological and yield variables were evaluated. The data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and a Tukey test (p p <= 0.05). Morphological variables such as plant height, stem diameter, number of leaves, chlorophyll content, number of flowers, fresh weight, dry weight, and root volume were superior to the control by 18.3, 23.6, 59.2, 13.6, 70.6, 11.6, 14.2, and 120 \% respectively at the 3.0 g dose. This same trend was observed with yield varia bles, including total fruits, total fruit weight, and average fruit weight, with increases of 70.5, 63.3, and 59.2 \% respectively. The 3.0 g dose of the product Suppra (R) improved the growth and yield of jalape \& ntilde;o pepper crops under salinity conditions.