Phosphate Response by Indigenous Microbes and Mycorrhizal Inoculation on Corn in Inceptisol Soil

Abstract

The low availability of phosphate is due to fixation by Al and Fe at acid pH, making it unavailable to plants. These problems can be overcome through the utilization of soil microbes and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) that can associate with corn plants. This study aims to determine the effect of indigenous microbes and arbuscular mycorrhiza on phosphate nutrients. The experiment used a nested design with three factors. The first factor is land use, consisting of inceptisol moorland soil and inceptisol forest soil. The second factor is soil sterilization consisting of sterile and non-sterile. The third factor is mycorrhiza, consisting of non mycorrhiza and mycorrhiza inoculation. The results showed that land use had a significant effect on total P, potential P, Al oxide, and Fe oxide. However, it did not significantly affect available P, P uptake, and root CEC. Soil sterilization and mycorrhiza inoculation significantly affected available P, total P, potential P, P uptake, Al oxide, Fe oxide, and root CEC. The treatment interaction significantly affected all parameters, except P uptake and root CEC. However, there was a negative relationship between Al and Fe oxide content on available P and P uptake. The best phosphorus response was non sterile forest inceptisol soil with mycorrhizal inoculation.