Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhizal status of some medicinal plants in the Lateritic soil of South West Bengal (India)
S. Samanta
Post Graduate Department of Botany, Sabang Sajanikanta Mahavidyalaya (Vidyasagar University), Lutunia-721166 (India) Email: prof.sudhansusamanta@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhizal (VAM) symbiosis is now widely accepted as an essential component of any plant community and play unique role in uptake of nutrient and water particularly in nutrient poor dry soil. Plants with indigenous VAM fungi can mobilize Phosphorus from rock phosphate more efficiently and create a favourable environment for the development of ecosystem process. So, screening of effective VAM species for plant inoculation was thought necessary. The red lateritic soil of South West Bengal is acidic and low in organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus. Use of VA mycorrhiza as bio-fertilizers creates favourable soil ecosystem where phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium and other nutrients get mobilized. All of the investigated medicinal plants of South West Bengal were associated with either VAMycorrhizal infection or with Mycorrhizal spore populations. 91% of the medicinal plants of the South West Bengal showed in a range of 10% to 80% of VAM infection.