EFFECT OF ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZAL (Glomus intraradices) INOCULATION ON SEED GERMINATION AND SEEDLING GROWTH OF BAMBARA GROUNDNUT (Vigna subterranea (L))
O. HAMZAT (1) (1) FEDERAL UNIVERSITY, DUTSIN-MA, Nigeria

Bambara groundnut is highly nutritive crop, comm consumed in Africa which may be used to replace expensive animal protein in the human diets. Laboratory and screen house experiments were carried out at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of Arbuscular mycorrhizal inoculation on seed germination and seedling growth of Bambara groundnut. The Arbuscular mycorrhizal inoculants formed the treatment. Both laboratory and screen house experiments were replicated three times, while means and standard deviation (mean +/SD) were also calculated. Data collected were subjected to analysis of variance. Viability of the seeds ranged between 80-100%. Glomus intraradices was found to greatly enhance the vigour of the seedlings compared to the control. This was evident in plant height (25.4±2.6) cm, leave number (90), stem girth (0.1±0.1) cm, leaf area (19.5±1.5) cm2, dry and fresh weight of shoot and root. The moisture content of the inoculated seedlings roots (69±1.8)% and shoot(67±2.3)% was significantly P<0.05 higher than that of the non-inoculated seedlings of root(60±0.9)% and shoot(53±1.2)% that served as control. The overall mean weight of mycorrhizal inoculated seedling was estimated to be 11.8+4.0g while that of the non-inoculated seedling was 6.8±1.3g. Some chemical components of the seeds were investigated and found to include free fatty acids (1.11±1.82%) Iodine (88.60±0.45) mgg-1, Peroxide (4.00±10.21) mgg-1, Saponification (170.66±0.64) mgg-1, Acidic value (90.00±0.012) mgg-1and Oil (73±2.3) contents. This underutilized crop seeds should be made readily available for   commercial farmers in order to improve the availability of the crops in the diets of the populace since it has high protein content that can be used to replace expensive animal protein.

Abstract Number: P2-27
Session Type: Poster