MYCORRHIZA FROM TRANSAMAZÔNICA (BR-230) AND ITS INFLUENCE IN THE CULTIVATION OF PARICÁ

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the development of seedlings of paricá from the Amazon inoculated with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), both from the Transamazônica, as a technology proposal for the sustainable production of superior seedlings for use in commercial planting or revegetation in the Transamazônica (BR 230). Soil samples were collected from Octuber/2012 to January/2013 on the Transamazônica highway and sent to the Laboratory of Environmental Microbiology of the Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA), Altamira campus, for spore extraction and inoculant substrate formulation. After overcoming dormancy and disinfestation, paricá seeds were seeded in a vase containing Dystroferric Red Latosol mixed with washed river sand (1:1 v/v) and homogenized with 50 mL of the inoculant substrate. The response to mycorrhization was evaluated through the variables: final plant height, height gain, fresh aerial mass, fresh root mass, dry aerial mass and dry mass of the root system. The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse, with two treatments (with and without mycorrhizae), completely at random and with 20 replicates. After 90 days of sowing, the effect of the AMF from the Transamazônica was positive for all the variables tested, especially in the root length, compared to the non colonized seedlings. It is concluded that the symbiosis between the Paricá and the AMS, both adapted to the Transamazônica, constitutes an advantageous technology, because the plants become more ecologically competitive and apt to the transplanting to the field. KEYWORDS: Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, Plant growth, Seedling production.