Influencia de los consorcios micorrícicos arbusculares y la fertilización fosfórica en los componentes del rendimiento de chile piquín*

Abstract

Introduction. The piquin chili (Capsicum annuum L. var. glabriusculum) is a wild species of typical red fruit found in the mountains north of Mexico, and it is still undergoing domestication. To understand the role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and phosphorus fertilization is essential to make sustainable production of piquin chilli. Objective. To compare the influence of three consortia of arbuscular mycorrhiza and two control groups of phosphorus fertilization on yield components. Materials and methods. The study was conducted in the summer of 2021 in Mexico. Three mycorrhizal consortia were utilized in the control group with phosphorus fertilization, with 12 observations. The analyzed variables were plant height (cm), leaf number, stem diameter, fruit number, fruit harvest weight, unitary fruit weight, and fruit phosphorus content. The experiment was conducted using a completely randomized design. The statistical analysis of the collected data was performed using SPSS version 25, employing analysis of variance (ANOVA). A significance of 5% was used, and the means were compared with a Tukey test. Results. The mycorrhizal consortia improved significantly over the control plants (22 mg L-1 de P) in the agronomic variables studied (the number of leaves, plant height, and stem diameter, and the yield (number of fruits, harvest weight, and unitary weight of fruit). The three fungal consortia contributed to the yield variables, as the control plants had double the dosage of phosphorus. Conclusions. The native and commercial mycorrhizal fungi favored the variables of yield components evaluated. They contributed to their fruit P content, like fertilized plants with phosphorus.