Published Paper Details:

The soil of the Nashik District offers remarkable opportunities for studying the diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. A survey was conducted on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi from the rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soil of garlic (Allium sativum) across four different locations in the Niphad and Chandwad talukas of the Nasik district in Maharashtra. The highest number of AM propagules, totaling 446 per 100 grams of soil, along with the greatest root infection rate of 82%, was observed in the Panchakeshwar locality. In contrast, the Rahud locality recorded the lowest number of AM propagules at 174 per 100 grams of soil and a root infection rate of just 50%. The other two localities, Palkhed and Dighwad, exhibited intermediate results. From both the rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soil of garlic, three genera comprising seventeen species were isolated. The genus Glomus was the most prevalent, featuring ten species. The other genera identified included Acaulospora, which had three to four species, and Scutellospora, which had five species. Notably, the number of AM propagules was higher in the rhizosphere soil compared to the non-rhizosphere soil. Soil analysis was performed to assess various parameters such as pH, electrical conductivity (EC), organic carbon (OC %), phosphorus (P2O5 in Kg/ac), potassium (K2O in Kg/ac), and trace elements including zinc (Zn in ppm), copper (Cu in ppm), iron (Fe in ppm), and manganese (Mn in ppm) from both rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soil of garlic.