Vascular plants, with which it establishes a symbiosis, mainly mutualistic, that favors the absorption of water and nutrients, essentially those of low mobility in the soil, such as phosphorus, thus stimulating their growth, production, yield and quality.
▶ This symbiotic association to which I refer, provides both the host plant and the balance in the functioning of the agroecosystem, mainly the edaphic component, with additional benefits, among them: plants become tolerant to water stress and resistant to pest and disease attacks, biological activity, soil structure and stability are improved, they act as important carbon sinks, thus contributing to the reduction of global climate warming.
Regarding the functioning of conventional agroecosystems, even with low levels of technification, producers show a high dependence on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, the residues of these agrochemicals generate a progressive deterioration of natural resources and damage to human health, in addition to representing a high cost of production, not to mention the serious problems of shortage of this type of inputs in our country.
▶ In this regard, it has been mentioned that, among other biological or organic strategies, the use of arbuscular mycorrhizal inoculants stands out.
This shows the need to contribute to the development of biological or organic management strategies that promote the increase of production and yield of this vegetable, of relevant importance in the national gastronomy, in the context of a sustainable agriculture.
▶ The multiple potential benefits of arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM) have conferred a remarkable and growing importance to this association in ecosystems and agricultural systems, acting as bioinputs, especially as biofertilizers, bioprotectants and bioremediators.
In light of these developments, all plant-fungus combinations could be expected to manifest themselves in a positive response in terms of nutrient uptake, biomass accumulation, plant health and productivity, i.e., in terms of symbiosis efficiency.
▶ However, such benefits are not generalized, due to the genetic and functional diversity of these symbionts, understanding, in this case, that functional diversity refers to the different responses and/or benefits that a species or ecotype of AMF can generate when combined with different species, varieties or genotypes of host plant and edaphic condition.
This indicates that the effectiveness of the symbiosis is mediated by compatibility or functional diversity, also defined as the zone of optimal interaction, regulated by both the components of the symbiosis and the soil; which reveals that not all plant-fungus-edaphic condition combinations are effective or functional in terms of promoting a positive growth and production response of the host plant.
It has been indicated that the benefits of this symbiosis, in terms of nutrient uptake, protection against pathogens, growth, production or other parameters, may vary according to the origin of the inoculum, native and introduced. Also, there are controversies about the synergistic and/or antagonistic effects of the use of monosporic or mixed AMF inoculants (consortia).