ABSTRACT For decades, researchers around the world search for strategies aiming at higher sustainability in agriculture. The microbial inoculants or biofertilizers are biotechnological products used for different purposes, the main one being to totally or partially replace chemical fertilizers, with an emphasis on N-fertilizers, reducing costs of production and decreasing the contamination of the soil, water, and atmosphere. Depending on the microorganism and the inoculated crop, inoculants can also induce plant protection to abiotic and biotic stresses and positively modify […]

The use of diazotrophic bacteria can help to achieve higher yields and reduce negative environmental impacts caused by N fertilizers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of seed treatment with Azospirillum bacteria and the application of different rates of mineral N on maize agronomic performance at two levels of yield management. A field experiment was set up in Lages, SC, Brazil, in the 2011/2012 and 2012/2013 growing seasons. A randomized block experimental design arranged in split-split […]

The olive tree is a temperate climate plant, whose fructification requires low temperatures before flowering. The production of good quality seedling material is essential for establishing an orchard, and association with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can be very important in this respect. In Brazil, there are no studies related to the use of AMF in olive seedling production. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the use of different AMF species on the development of seedlings […]

Nowadays, inoculant application in the sowing furrow of soybean is widely used, but there is little information underlying this practice, which would prove the efficiency in different environments under no-tillage systems. This study aimed to evaluate the viability of inoculant application to soybean, via seed and in-furrow, in soil never cultivated with soybean or previously cultivated with soybean. Two field experiments were carried out as of December 2004 in a Red Yellow Latosol (Oxisol), using the same methodology and applying […]

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) establishing efficient symbiosis with plants play an important role on ecosystem sustainability and can be useful for revegetation of degraded lands. Symbiotic efficiency is related to AMF genotypes and plant species, as well as to environmental conditions that may affect the expression of symbiotic relationships. Thus, the first step to an efficient AMF symbiosis management is to study fungal variability regarding the efficiency with different host species. In this study root colonization and efficiency of several […]

This study was carried out in 1996/97, 1997/98 and 2000/01 crop seasons in Cruz Alta, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, aiming at evaluating the efficiency of commercial inoculant formulations, isolated and in combination with Mo and Co foliar fertilizer in an area that has been under no tillage for eight to twelve year and where Bradyrhizobium had already been established. In the 1996/97 crop year, the treatments were: non-inoculated control; 200 kg ha-1 of nitrogen fertilizer, split twice […]

In Brazil, Bradyrhizobium inoculation has successfully replaced the use of N fertilizer on soybean [Glycine max (L) Merr.] crops. However, with the expansion of no-tillage cropping systems in the Cerrados region, the idea that it is necessary to use small N rates at the sowing to overcome problems related with N immobilization has become widespread, mainly when soybean is cultivated after a non-legume crop. In this study we examined soybean response to small rates of N fertilizer under no-tillage (NT) […]

The effect of N, Ni, Mo, Co and S omission on the N and S leaf contents of common bean plants (Phaseolus vulgaris), grown in a greenhouse, was evaluated. The experimental design was factorial, using two soil types (Entisol and Cambisol), two inoculation levels (with and without Rhizobium), combined with six fertilization treatments: (a) Complete (N, P, K, Ni, Mo, Co and S); (b) without N; (c) without Ni; (d) without Co; (e) without Mo; (f) without S. The experimental […]

This study was carried out in the 1994/95, 1996/97, 1997/98 and 1998/99 cropping seasons, to evaluate the efficiency of the Bradyrhizobium strains as recommended by research, evaluation and biological nitrogen fixation efficiency of competitiveness of soybean crop under no-tillage. The experiments were carried out at FUNDACEP, in Cruz Alta, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, in an area cultivated under no-tillage over five to ten years. In the year of 1994/95, the treatments were: non-inoculated control; 200 kg ha-1 of nitrogen […]

In order to be used in a program of inoculation, efficient arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) must be able to cope with the indigeneous fungal population. An experiment was conducted under greenhouse conditions at the Embrapa Cassava and Fruit Crops in Cruz das Almas (BA), Brazil, with the objective to evaluate the competitive capability of selected fungi, using natural soil with Tainung no. 1 variety. A Yellow Oxisol with 3 mg dm-3 of available P was used. Three exotic and three […]