Phosphate Fertilization and Mycorrhizal Inoculation Increase Corn Leaf and Grain Nutrient Contents

Abstract

The agricultural use of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, such as Rhizoglomus intraradices, can increase the efficiency of phosphate fertilization for the benefit of the corn plant and grain nutrition. In this study, a field experiment was conducted in an area of Selvíria/MS, Brazil, in the years 2019 and 2020, to verify the effects of reduced doses of phosphorus combined with the inoculation of corn seed with R. intraradices on corn plant growth and grain nutrient contents. The experiment was laid in a randomized block design in subdivided plots with four repetitions and twenty treatments resulting from combining five doses of P2O5 (0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% of the recommended dose) with four doses (0, 60, 120, and 180 g ha−1) of an inoculant containing R. intraradices. Leaf and kernel macro- and micronutrient contents were evaluated. The foliar P content in 2020 was a function of the interaction between phosphate fertilization and AMF inoculation, with the highest leaf P content observed at the 100% of P2O5 combined with AMF inoculation between 120 and 140 g ha−1. In the grains Mg content, an interaction was observed between the two factors in 2020 and the response surface, showing that the highest Mg content was obtained when maximum doses of P2O5 and maximum doses of inoculant were combined. A response surface showed that, in 2020, the highest leaf Zn content occurred when 35–55% P2O5 is applied with no inoculation and when P2O5 is limited to 20–30%, and there is inoculation with doses between 90 and 150 g ha−1. Phosphate fertilization increased foliar K (2019) and Mg (2020) contents, with maximum points at doses of 76.57% and 88.80%, respectively.