EVALUATING THE EFFECT OF VESICULAR – ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZAE ON TOMATO (Lycopersicon Esculentum MILL.) PLANT GROWTH AND PRODUCTION

Vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) fungi have the potential to improve the sustainability of tomato production by improving yield and quality. Therefore the aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of two different concentrations of commercially available VAM on the plant growth and fruit production of two tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) varieties in the greenhouse. The experiment was set up as a randomized factorial block design with two independent factors and consisted of six treatments and three replications. The factors were two tomato varieties, hybrid 61 and hybrid 501 and; two concentrations of VAM 2.5 and 10 g. VAM/plant. Biomass was determined two times, at bloom initiation and at the end of the experiment. Plant height and stem thickness were measured once per week. For the production, only the first two harvest times were recorded on number and weight of fruits per plant. Data was statistically analyzed using the three-way ANOVA. The results of this experiment showed that the VAM fungi had a positive influence on the production of both varieties and the plants reproduced earlier. There was no significant difference in production (P = .37) between the two concentrations of VAM inoculum used.