RESPONSE OF SOYBEAN INOCULANT WITH MYCORRHIZAL AND ALLEVIATES SALT STRESS IN THE PLANT IRRIGATION WITH SALINE WATER

High salinity of the supply water has detrimental effects on soil fertility and plant nutrition and reduces plant growth and yield .This research has been conducted to determine the effect of mycorrhiza on soybean (Glycine max L.) growth under saline conditions. Soybean seeds were sown in pots filled with 6 kg soil. The soil solution electrical conductivity (ECe) was 2.1 dS/m. Plants were irrigated with non-saline water (ECw = 0.6 dS m-1) or saline water (ECw = 6.2 dS m-1) until harvest. These treatments resulted with soil ECe at harvest 1.2 and 5.3 dS m-1 for non-saline and saline water treatments, respectively. Root colonization with AM fungi was lower under saline than non-saline conditions. Inoculated soybean plants with AM fungi irrigated with both saline and non-saline water had greater shoot and root dry matter (DM) than non-AM plants. Shoot contents of P, K, Zn, and Ca were higher in AM compared with non-AM plants grown under non-saline and saline water conditions. Results indicate that inoculation of plants with AM fungi has improved growth and can help to alleviate deleterious effects of salt stress on plant yield. The role of arbuscularmycorrhizal (AM) fungi to alleviate salt effects was determining on growth of soybean when irrigated with saline water.